OT: Cowboys top draft pick Dez Bryant already causing stir

[FreeTedWilliams]

Yes girls, vicious hazing like carrying veterans' pads is SO brutal and testerone laden.

I'm sure that Maroney would have gladly carried someone's pads, instead of getting his eyebrows shaven off, like they did to him. Rookie hazing in all pro sports is as old as the game. The Red Sox routinely make their rookies dress in drag on the first trip into Canada.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

bryant just lost any help he would have gotten from the vet wr's on the field and respect from the other vets in the lockerroom. what an idiot.

 

[Nonentity]

Was Dez Bryant out of line in training camp? | National Football Post

Matt Bowen reckons the vets will smash Bryant in the wallet as part of their revenge

 

[patriotscpfc]

bryant just lost any help he would have gotten from the vet wr's on the field and respect from the other vets in the lockerroom. what an idiot.

Vet WRs.

Austin is a 3rd year guy. Ogletree in his 2nd year.

Crayton has tried to fire his way out of town. Hardly a guy to look up to.

And if he wanted any help from Roy Williams, i'd do completely the opposite.

Absolute failure.

 

[mgcolby]

I think he is right. Again as another poster stated had this been someone like Romo, or Whitten he would most likely have done it. But I wouldn't carry the pads of the Guy that I was brought in to replace and with whom I compete against daily for a starting spot. I'd tell him to kiss my ass too.

 

[MVPatsfan13]

Simple hazing like this is part of sports. Hell, it is training camp, he should look at it as extra exercise, like a light-weight "famers walk".

What a diva though, he was initially saying all the right things and yet couldnt even keep it up through the first day of training camp, so you know its only going to get worse.
I bet we'll hear in 3-5 years how he wants a rookie to do something for him...

 

[Joker]

a punk is a punk is a punk...it's not even hazing, it's NFL tradition...like rooks getting lit up going across the middle...something I look forward to this season

 

[Raymond]

What the NFL does can't even be called hazing. It's simply a bonding tradition. Carry my pads, get me a drink of water, sing a song???

Another clear example of the wusification of people today.

 

[MVPatsfan13]

Cant agree with you more, Joker & Raymond. Hell, just for highschool sports we got the stupid haircuts. I would have much rather carried the pads of seniors than "plaid" design that go shaved into my head, lol.
And you know what, I dont look back at those moments with any regret, everybody was laughing at each other and having a good time in the locker room, seniors taking turns cutting hair, while freshman kept rotating into the "barbers chair"(end of the bench nearest the mirrors/outlet).
BTW, it shouldnt matter if a guy is competing with you for playing time, you're both on the same team. Thats how you develop the US-VS-them mentality, instead of me-VS-them

 

[Peachhead]

I'm sure that Maroney would have gladly carried someone's pads, instead of getting his eyebrows shaven off, like they did to him. Rookie hazing in all pro sports is as old as the game. The Red Sox routinely make their rookies dress in drag on the first trip into Canada.

Oh man. The mental picture of Big Papi in a dress just made Pepsi squirt out of my nose.

 

[Kontradiction]

I totally disagree. It is a common thing that rookies carry the veteran's pads. It is a tradition and it is part of the team dynamics. Bryant should respect that and get over himself.

Bryant had an opportunity to show his bad rep is undeserved and he already seems to be going out of his way to show he is a diva. Suck it up Dez and carry the friggin pads like every other rookie will do for the next few weeks.

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Williams probably did it in a snide and *******-ish manner being that Bryant is supposed to be the guy who comes in and replaces Williams. I wouldn't have done it either (and I've carried pads and other stuff for my high school team as one of the only freshmen who were lucky enough to make Varsity right out of the gate, so I know about hazing). It's not that I don't think he shouldn't carry ANYBODY'S pads, just that I can't fault him for not carrying Roy Williams'.

 

[Peachhead]

I bet we'll hear in 3-5 years how he wants a rookie to do something for him...

I bet in 3-5 years we hear what a disappointment he is because no-one bothered helping him with the finer points of the pro game. And also a disappointment because he thinks his talent is all he needs to succeed, and doesn't bother with the grunt work.

 

[Deus Irae]

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Williams probably did it in a snide and *******-ish manner being that Bryant is supposed to be the guy who comes in and replaces Williams. I wouldn't have done it either (and I've carried pads and other stuff for my high school team as one of the only freshmen who were lucky enough to make Varsity right out of the gate, so I know about hazing). It's not that I don't think he shouldn't carry ANYBODY'S pads, just that I can't fault him for not carrying Roy Williams'.

I'd expect you to be better than that. You carry the pads, regardless of which veteran is telling you to do it, or how they tell you.

 

[Patspsycho]

We'll have to agree to disagree here. Williams probably did it in a snide and *******-ish manner being that Bryant is supposed to be the guy who comes in and replaces Williams. I wouldn't have done it either (and I've carried pads and other stuff for my high school team as one of the only freshmen who were lucky enough to make Varsity right out of the gate, so I know about hazing). It's not that I don't think he shouldn't carry ANYBODY'S pads, just that I can't fault him for not carrying Roy Williams'.

The problem is that this affects the rest of the team. It doesn't matter whose pads you pick up, or if you are better than the player whose pads you have to carry, as long as you pick them up because it signifies that you are willing to put the team before yourself, and your ego. This is an archaic ritual that goes back many thousands of years, and is seen in literally every ritual and ceremony having an ontological nature in which you sublimate yourself to a "higher purpose" namely something that is bigger than the sum of its parts, which is the definition of a championship team.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'd expect you to be better than that. You carry the pads, regardless of which veteran is telling you to do it, or how they tell you.

Not me. Especially if they did it while looking down their nose at me.

 

[cstjohn17]

He is also causing a stir in a good way.

Dez Bryant

Dez Bryant's practice performances over the weekend were reportedly "electrifying," and he left "a wake of gaping jaws" for those in attendance.

The hype Bryant has generated is eye-opening, reminiscent of the raving reviews drawn by Chris Johnson in OTAs and training camp two years ago. Bryant reportedly made "one-handed catches, plural" along the sideline, and was praised resoundingly by the coaching staff and players. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it's only a matter of time before Bryant starts.

 

[Kontradiction]

The problem is that this affects the rest of the team. It doesn't matter whose pads you pick up, or if you are better than the player whose pads you have to carry, as long as you pick them up because it signifies that you are willing to put the team before yourself, and your ego. This is an archaic ritual that goes back many thousands of years, and is seen in literally every ritual and ceremony having an ontological nature in which you sublimate yourself to a "higher purpose" namely something that is bigger than the sum of its parts, which is the definition of a championship team.

Not every team is like that. Watch what will happen if Dez Bryant comes out and has a slam dunk of the first few games right out of the gates. The memories of him not carrying a disappointing Roy Williams' pads will be quickly forgotten and the team will rally itself around him.

 

[Deus Irae]

Not me. Especially if they did it while looking down their nose at me.

Every team I've played on would have crushed you for that.

 

[mgcolby]

Cant agree with you more, Joker & Raymond. Hell, just for highschool sports we got the stupid haircuts. I would have much rather carried the pads of seniors than "plaid" design that go shaved into my head, lol.
And you know what, I dont look back at those moments with any regret, everybody was laughing at each other and having a good time in the locker room, seniors taking turns cutting hair, while freshman kept rotating into the "barbers chair"(end of the bench nearest the mirrors/outlet).
BTW, it shouldnt matter if a guy is competing with you for playing time, you're both on the same team. Thats how you develop the US-VS-them mentality, instead of me-VS-them

Anyway you shake it during training camp its a Bryant vs Williams mentality for those two players. And given Williams' track record of "not getting it", it should not come as a shock that he made a big deal about the rookie not carrying his pads. If I were Williams I would be worrying about having pads to carry at all!

And I highly doubt carrying someone's pads or not changes the us vs them mentality. Especially in the mind of the person that refused. One could easily argue that hazing does just the opposite, because the person doing the hazing is essentially telling the guy that you are not part of "us" yet.

And to go even further I could easily argue that Roy Williams will be lucky to be a part of "us" if he doesn't step it up. The only thing keeping him on that team is Jones' ego, because most people thought it was a dumbass trade when it happened, and Williams has done nothing to prove them wrong.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Jerry Jones is ordering a "Code Red" for training camp as we speak.