Cowboys’ Gregory set to file for reinstatement today
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory, who has been suspended since December 2016, is expected to officially file for reinstatement with the NFL today, a source confirmed.
Gregory is hoping to return for the 2018 season and to give the NFL enough time to have it approved before the start of training camp, tentatively set for July 24.
The NFL has 60 days to approve the application once the paperwork has been submitted.
This has been a painstaking and deliberate process for Gregory, who could have filed for reinstatement last month, the Fort-Worth Star Telegram reported. But he has been focused on doing everything necessary to have the best chance of success.
Per the NFL Network, Gregory has recently spent more than six weeks in intensive drug and alcohol rehab in addition to counseling. The Star-Telegram reports he met with NFL substance-abuse program medical personnel over last weekend in Houston and “everything went well,” clearing the final hurdle for him to apply for reinstatement.
Gregory has the backing of several teammates who have written letters on his behalf and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“I tried to give my two cents to the league and what I think is best for Randy,” defensive end Tyrone Crawford said last week. “I think it’s best he’s back in the locker room, he’s back around us. I think it will be good for him, and it’ll be good for us.”
Gregory hasn’t played since the regular-season finale in 2016. The NFL suspended Gregory on Jan. 6, 2017, for at least a year for repeated violations of its substance abuse policy.
The Cowboys are fully behind Gregory, who spent much of his time away in California. But they all know there are no guarantees with the NFL and this process.
“I have been proud of Randy during this offseason,” Jones said. “I’m very aware of how hard he’s working to get back in the league and get back on the field. We know his talent level. It’s concerning that he needs to be in a team environment and needs to be a part of the regime of preparing to actually compete, and so all of that will be a challenge for him, but very doable.
“I know him to be of the character and the kind of individual that is very capable of not only competing and overcoming the fact that he hadn’t played this past year. I think he’s capable of that. But I don’t want to be presumptuous in any way whether or not he’s going to qualify to be reinstated.”
JETS: The attorney for wide receiver Robby Anderson said Wednesday that prosecutors in Miami have a hearing scheduled for this morning to drop a felony charge for resisting arrest against his client.
Anderson was arrested and charged with resisting arrest with violence at a music festival in May 2017.
Ed O’Donnell, Anderson’s lawyer, said Anderson is relieved the charges will be dropped.
BILLS: Buffalo plans to retire Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas’ No. 34 jersey Oct. 29 when they host the New England Patriots.
Thomas will become the third player to have his number retired. The Bills retired quarterback Jim Kelly’s No. 12 in 2001 and defensive end Bruce Smith’s No. 78 in 2016.
PANTHERS: The team announced Wednesday it has signed a “definitive agreement” to sell the team to David Tepper, the founder and president of global hedge fund Appaloosa Management.
The deal is subject to NFL approval.
League owners will meet next week in Atlanta, where they are expected to vote on the purchase. Tepper is paying an NFL-record $2.2 billion to purchase the team, according to the Associated Press.