The Dallas Cowboys are coming under fire for signing Greg Hardy. I don’t blame their critics, but unlike most of them, I have known Greg for a few years. He and Jordan were drafted to the Carolina Panthers in the same class.
I was disappointed when Greg was convicted on domestic assault-related charges last year. During the trial, his ex-girlfriend described how Greg flung her from their bed, threw her into a bathtub, and then tossed her on a futon covered with rifles. She said Greg ripped off her necklace, threw it into a toilet and slammed the lid on her as she attempted to retrieve it. She said Greg dragged her by the hair from room to room before threatening to kill her.
Greg subsequently appealed the verdict. At his second trial, his ex-girlfriend did not testify. The case was dismissed. Less than two months later, Greg is under contract with the Cowboys. His signing sends a very clear message – if you do something horrible, you’ll have to sit out for a little while, maybe get a slap on the wrist, but in a very short time, you will be able to make millions of dollars again.
When I read about the terrible violations against this young woman, my thoughts immediately turned to my daughter. Dominique is 21-years-old and majoring in Sports Management. She may one day date an athlete. To think that something like this could happen to her is very disturbing. To imagine that the perpetrator could go on and have a successful career is horrifying.
I also think about my son. My husband and I have raised him to be respectful of women and an overall good citizen. He works extremely hard to keep his body and mind in top shape. He recently worked out with the New York Jets, but after four years in the NFL, he currently does not have a team to call home.
So when I think about the way some NFL players behave when given such an unbelievable opportunity, I get extremely frustrated. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t expect perfection from anyone. My family and I have a strong Christian faith. We believe in redemption and giving second chances. But in the NFL it seems that you get multiple chances when you make very serious mistakes.
Fellow Cowboy Josh Brent is back on the team less than three years after crashing his car in a Dallas suburb, killing his friend and teammate, Jerry Brown. Josh was convicted of intoxication manslaughter and sentenced to six months in jail, ten years’ probation and rehab.
Cowboy Dez Bryant was arrested in 2012 for allegedly assaulting his mother. He’s also been thrown out of a mall for not pulling up his sagging pants, and there were reports he owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to jewelers. The Dallas Cowboys have indicated that they are concerned about Dez Bryant’s off-the-field behavior. But instead of giving him the boot, the team pays him millions of dollars a year. What lesson does that teach our children?
Hall of Fame receiver Tim Brown, who grew up a Cowboys fan, points at the hypocrisy of what the NFL claims versus what the teams are really doing. NFL teams say they won’t tolerate domestic violence, but their actions say otherwise. As a result, Brown predicts NFL players will continue to get into trouble off the field.
In contrast, Dallas Cowboys Executive Vice President Charlotte Jones Anderson and Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo say they don’t believe in throwing people away. In separate statements they said that everyone makes mistakes and should be given another chance. But how many chances are too many? What about the consequences?
Hardy remains on the commissioner’s exempt list and faces up to a six-game suspension this year under the league’s personal conduct policy, which was recently toughened for domestic violence incidents. Yet with his career back on track, it seems to me that the only people being punished here are parents who are trying to instill in their children that bad behavior has consequences.