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Interesting read from Jason Cole at Yahoo sports:
Cowboys knew Dez Bryant's personal life would give them problems - Yahoo! Sports
It's an interesting read not only about Bryant, but also for it's implications about different approaches to drafting and team building. The Pats scouted Bryant extensively in 2010 and had him in for a visit, and decided to pass (twice, at 22 and again at 24). A lot of fans and media were disappointed when they passed, and the Cowboys were lauded for aggressively moving up to get a "top 10 talent". The Cowboys understood the risk involved and took the gamble (which admittedly could still pay off). They are willing to give "extra chances" to a gifted player. BB has less tolerance for that - his gambles are usually day 3, and usually on guys like Alfonzo Dennard or Aaron Hernandez with a limited incident in their past, not a chronic history, and he would have no patience for a guy who has "no understanding of consequences". It's a bit reminiscent of the Pats passing on guys like Trumaine Johnson this year in favor of Tavon Wilson. Meanwhile teams like the Cowboys and Jets have plenty of talent but lack leadership and chemistry.
The Dallas Cowboys don't have to teach Dez Bryant much about being a football player. If you watch a handful of practices, you can see the game comes easy to him. Teaching him how to be a man of good judgment? That's the hard part.
"When you're that talented, you're afforded a couple of extra chances," team owner Jerry Jones said Monday. This is the same Jones who spent Tuesday counseling Bryant about the wide receiver's arrest in July for an alleged scuffle with his mother.
"Nothing that has happened is surprising," one Cowboys executive said of Bryant, 23, and his mother Angela, who is all of 37. As an AFC executive recently said: "You run into all sorts of stories in this business. Guys who see their parents get killed or their brothers and sisters are shot. Guys who had to steal to survive as kids. It's ugly. You wonder how some guys make it. When we looked at Dez [during the NFL draft process], I wondered a lot."
Another teammate summed it up: "Don't even waste time talking about his skills. Dez can do anything and he has a great heart … I genuinely like the guy and I don't think he means to do anybody any harm, except when he plays. He loves to be physical. But when he's not on that field at practice or on game day, there's no telling what he's doing. I don't think he has any understanding of consequences and he's a grown man. How do you teach a grown man that kind of stuff?"
Cowboys knew Dez Bryant's personal life would give them problems - Yahoo! Sports
It's an interesting read not only about Bryant, but also for it's implications about different approaches to drafting and team building. The Pats scouted Bryant extensively in 2010 and had him in for a visit, and decided to pass (twice, at 22 and again at 24). A lot of fans and media were disappointed when they passed, and the Cowboys were lauded for aggressively moving up to get a "top 10 talent". The Cowboys understood the risk involved and took the gamble (which admittedly could still pay off). They are willing to give "extra chances" to a gifted player. BB has less tolerance for that - his gambles are usually day 3, and usually on guys like Alfonzo Dennard or Aaron Hernandez with a limited incident in their past, not a chronic history, and he would have no patience for a guy who has "no understanding of consequences". It's a bit reminiscent of the Pats passing on guys like Trumaine Johnson this year in favor of Tavon Wilson. Meanwhile teams like the Cowboys and Jets have plenty of talent but lack leadership and chemistry.