Cowboys support Brent at memorial
Lineman seen before service hugging Brown’s mother
DALLAS — Jason Garrett gave the Dallas Cowboys a day off after his players somehow pulled off a win in Cincinnati while reeling from a one-car accident that killed one teammate and landed another in jail.
Many players showed up at team headquarters anyway, and there was Josh Brent, the hulking defensive tackle who missed the trip after police allege he drove drunk and caused the wreck that killed practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown, his close friend and roommate.
Brent was back with his teammates again Tuesday for a private memorial honoring Brown. Players and team officials left without talking to reporters after the hour-long service on a chilly afternoon at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, but Garrett had made it clear that Brent was still a part of the Cowboys family.
“We’re going to support Josh 100 percent in every way that we can,” Garrett said Monday.
Brent arrived at the service earlier than most of the Cowboys players, team executives and staff members. He was in a van with several other people and could be seen hugging Brown’s mother before walking into the building. Brent was one of the last to leave, too. He grew close to Brown during three seasons together at the University of Illinois, and took in Brown when the Cowboys added the 25-year-old to the roster in October.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league had “no issues” with Brent being at team facilities while the manslaughter case against him proceeds. Pittsburgh visits Dallas on Sunday in a game with playoff implications for both teams.
Police in suburban Irving, Texas, say Brent was speeding when his vehicle struck a curb and flipped Saturday, hours before Brent was supposed to be on the team flight to Cincinnati. Brown was taken to a Dallas hospital, where he died. The Dallas County medical examiner said he suffered blunt force trauma to his head and neck.
Officers who arrived at the accident scene found Brent pulling Brown from the wreck, according to an arrest affidavit. However, a woman who arrived moments after the accident said Brent did not try to save his friend until she begged him.
“Jerry was alive,” Stacee McWilliams of Irving told The Dallas Morning News. “He was hurt. He was calling out, and his own friend walked away.”
McWilliams, a 40-year-old insurance company employee, said she was on her way home from her birthday party when she saw the wreck and stopped.
Brent’s attorney, George Milner, said an investigating officer told him the woman’s story didn’t match the circumstances surrounding Brown’s death. Milner said he was told Brown “wasn’t talking to anyone. He wasn’t moaning. He was dead.”
Milner said the woman also told police that Irving fire personnel weren’t at the scene, another fact that isn’t consistent with what really occurred.
“Not one person in the Irving Police Department has said one thing that is consistent” with the woman’s story, Milner said.
Police spokesman John Argumaniz declined to comment on the account, saying only that investigators are interviewing “numerous” witnesses.
A club where Brent and Brown reportedly spent at least part of Friday evening, Privae Dallas, has issued a statement saying it’s “deeply saddened by the events of the weekend” and that it’s cooperating with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and police.
TABC spokeswoman Carolyn Beck said the agency is investigating the accident, as it does all alcohol-related fatalities that come to its attention.