OXNARD, Calif. — Any discussion of passion with the Dallas Cowboys inevitably centers on one player. ADVERTISING OXNARD, Calif. — Any discussion of passion with the Dallas Cowboys inevitably centers on one player. Let’s all throw up the X. Whenever
OXNARD, Calif. — Any discussion of passion with the Dallas Cowboys inevitably centers on one player.
Let’s all throw up the X.
Whenever Dez Bryant loses control, whenever he exhibits questionable behavior or puts himself in harm’s way, as he did in Tuesday’s fight with the St. Louis Rams, club officials launch into a full-throated defense of passion.
You can’t extinguish the fire that makes someone special. Can you imagine what kind of team the Cowboys would field if every player had Bryant’s passion?
You’ve heard it all before. You’ll read it later as head coach Jason Garrett and executive vice president Stephen Jones address Bryant’s actions during the team’s two days of practice against the Rams.
Here’s what they don’t say. Passion doesn’t give a person the right to act or lash out whenever he or she wants. An impulsive display of passion often results in reckless or irresponsible behavior.
When passion is constantly extolled as a virtue, when it’s lauded as someone’s defining trait, that person will feel all actions are justified because, well, they just care more than anyone else.
This notion needs to be rejected. Is Bryant any more passionate about his craft than Tyron Smith, Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Barry Church or countless other players on this roster?
No. Club officials know this, but they walk a fine line.
Bryant is essential to the Cowboys success. He’s respected and liked in the locker room.
But he also craves acceptance. He wants to know he’s appreciated for all he brings to the team. That’s why Garrett and others go out of their way to avoid any sort of public criticism.
Bryant tweaks his hamstring in the same practice that he dunks over the crossbar, yet makes it clear he suffered the injury while running a route. Fine. It came while running a route.
The Pro Bowl receiver roams the field during Monday’s practice with St. Louis, taunts the Rams players, yells at his own teammates for not making more plays and calls attention to himself even though he can’t practice. That’s just Bryant’s love for the game.
Bryant bolts from a conversation with owner Jerry Jones during Tuesday’s practice to hurl himself into the middle of a fracas where he’s punched in the face by Rams cornerback Imoan Claiborne.
Hey, he’s just there for his teammates.
“You certainly love his passion and love how much he loves his team and his teammates,” Jones said. “I’m not supportive of anything that has to do with something that ends up in fights and scrums and those types of situations.”
Like the first fight of training camp between Bryant and cornerback Tyler Patmon when Bryant wouldn’t let it go and kept going after Patmon?
“Dez has been told this by Jason after the first situation we had here internally,” Jones said. “That’s only going to leave you missing games, getting thrown out of a game and having major fines and maybe missing more games.
“So certainly we’ve just got to continue to get our hands around it with these guys. These things don’t happen overnight but we’ll continue to work at them.”
There are consequences to unbridled passion. Jones said Garrett does an outstanding job of pointing out the negatives to Bryant and others.
Garrett didn’t speak to reporters after Tuesday’s fight. But earlier in the day, he was asked if Bryant had gone overboard with his passion in practice the previous day.
“I don’t know that overboard is the word,” Garrett said. “You want it to be channeled and focused in the right direction. You never want to diminish someone’s passion for something.
“Certainly, Dez Bryant’s passion for football is something we all admire and if we all had it, we’d have a hell of a football team. So we want that. Again, you want it focused in the right direction and that’s really everything that you do in football.
“Our game is set up beautifully, it’s play after play, it’s series after series, it’s quarter after quarter, it’s half after half, it’s week after week, all that stuff. So all you want to do is get all this great stuff you have and focus on the task at hand. So to answer your question, if he channels and focuses his passion the right way, it’s really pretty powerful. And typically with passionate people you have to help them do that.”
Garrett said he had no real issues with how Bryant channeled his passion in Monday’s practice. Part of the issue now is Bryant’s frustration with being unable to practice, not his passion.
Still, there’s no question a fire burns within Bryant. Here’s the question: is that what makes him special, or do the Cowboys simply go out of their way to accept and tolerate his volatility because he’s a special player?
“I love Dez Bryant,” Garrett said. “Our coaches love Dez Bryant. Our players love Dez Bryant.
“There’s a lot to love about Dez Bryant.”
