What Will Happen To Dez Bryant? From the Top Down

By:  Bobby Shores
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With the news  breaking today that Dez Bryant had been arrested for "domestic violence", my first thought was, "Now we will find out if the Cowboys have any leaders in the locker room". First let me say that I think "leadership" is WAY overblown in today's NFL, it seems to all boil down to every good team has "great leadership", while every average-to-bad team "lacks leadership", and the Cowboys are under the microscope more than most. Does anybody else remember how Eli Manning was not a leader, didn't demand accountability, etc. until the playoff run last year when it all switched to how he demands perfection and respect in the huddle, born leader like his brother, etc.

Unconfirmed Pic of NorthPark Mall Security that busted Dez

I wanna start this off with saying that I do not think Bryant is a bad guy, yes there have been a few incidents he has been involved in that made news, but were ultimately very minor in nature. I mean seriously, who cares if the guy is like 40% of America and can't manage his money, or if he is like 45% of American youth and wears his pants to low and talks back to the "rent-a-pigs" at NorthPark mall, or like 90% of America and wants to beat the hell out of Lil' Wayne. Of course this latest incident has the potential to be more serious, I do not want to make you think I am taking a "domestic violence" accusation seriously, I am.

This article is not going to be judging Bryant on what happened, with the lack of details and different stories floating around out there, let's get the truth before we tear Dez apart. Yes, Bryant is a very passionate guy, especially on the field, but nothing I have ever seen or read made me think he was either violent or even capable of violence. I have respect for any guy that can sit there calmly while another man calls his mom a prostitute, no matter what the situation is. While we are waiting on the facts of the case to make their way into our hands, let's begin the speculation on what could happen to him on the football side.

Let's start at the top of the food chain and work our way down. Commissioner Roger Goodell may decide that Bryant has put himself in enough bad situations that it's time to act and discipline him, and he doesn't even need charges to be pressed, an arrest or conviction to use the god-like powers given him as judge, jury and executioner. Since this is his first "real" issue with legal involvement, I do not expect much more than maybe a meeting or phone call from Rog letting Bryant know that he is on his radar.

Moving on down, the next level of discipline can be imposed by Jerry Jones and/or Jason Garrett, we know that Jones is kind of a softy and will probably not due anything more than a good stern talking to, but rest assured this will be brought up again when it comes time to negotiate a new contract. This incident, more than any other, can and will be used by Jones and his son to not only sign Bryant for less than he would have gotten without it, but he will also be able to write in language that protects the Cowboys, their money and their cap space if he screws up again. Above all else, Jones is a businessman and will pounce on any weakness to get what he wants.

Garrett on the other hand has spent his time as head coach building a team full of "good" guys, respected players with no baggage, great work ethics that are disciplined. The fact that he approved bringing in Bryant shows the amount of talent that he has. If this had happened during the season I could see Garrett ripping a page from his coach, Jimmy Johnson, and sitting Bryant for a series; much like Johnson did to Irvin years ago. Since this will likely be forgotten by most of us the day players report to training camp, I believe Garrett should use this as a way to not only punish Bryant, but also fix his biggest deficiency....conditioning. We all know that Bryant was in such bad shape last year that he literally disappeared during the second half of nearly every game, even when he was blowing it up during the first half. So punish him by making him run, and run, and run, and run, and run every single day after practices; it will help Bryant and the team!

What intrigues me more than anything else though, is how the guys in the locker room will react to this. There has been lots of negativity surrounding the Cowboys locker room because it lacks true leaders. The guys that you would expect to be the leaders, Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware, tend to be "lead by example", and nobody is apparently a real "rah rah" vocal leader type, similar to Ray Lewis and Drew Brees. If the Cowboys have one, this is the time he needs to step up, get on Bryant and hold him accountable as his actions affect the entire team.

Who is this player? Is there one? Maybe it will be a group of veteran players that form a "leadership committee", much like the one that Tom Coughlin created with the Giants back in 2005. Regardless of who it is, somebody needs to take control before this gets out of hand. I still don't think that all of Dez's incidents COMBINED are as bad as the DUI issue that the NFL has......(sorry I will get off my soapbox).

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