Of Cowboys rookie WR Dez Bryant’s refusal to endure a rather mild hazing ritual — ie. lug around veteran Roy Williams’ gear — the Dallas Morning News’ Todd Archer calls it “a diva act…it’s the result of too much enabling and entitlement.” Indeed, were Bryant making such a stand against a player slightly less vilified as Williams, chances are he’d be on the receiving end of more critical beatdowns like the one provided by 700 Level’s Andrew, who reminds us, ” Imagine if Charles Haley was still on the team, ferchrissakes. It could be a lot worse.”
“I carried pads,” bemoaned Williams (above). “I paid for dinners. I paid for lunches. I did everything I was supposed to do, because I didn’t want to be that guy.” In turn, Williams told reporters that his efforts would be bumped up to “Step Two” to make “that guy” regret his not being a team player. I don’t know what “Step Two” is, precisely–and neither does Williams, it sounds like–but it sounds like the best vaguely menacing euphemistic sound byte since Bobby Bonilla threatened to show a reporter “The Bronx” a decade and a half ago.
In the meantime, Bryant can take pride in the knowledge that he was able to maintain his pride, at the expense of his reputation, his locker room, and perhaps his own personal safety as this invariably balloons to be the most over-reported story of the NFL off-season. WUUUUUU TAAAANGG!!!!