USA TODAY International Edition
Enablers bad, Hardy worse
Don’t expect Cowboys end to change ways
The problem with Greg Hardy isn’t really the NFL, or the NFL Players Association, or Jerry Jones, or the Dallas Cowboys, although they all could have performed better and made wiser decisions in one of the great ongoing public relations fiascoes in recent U. S. sports history.
The problem with Greg Hardy is Greg Hardy.
Hardy, the Cowboys defensive end whose violence against former girlfriend Nicole Holder was documented in 48 disturbing photos that appeared on Deadspin last week, has made one awful decision after another since being given the second chance that has eluded his domestic violence brother in arms, Ray Rice.
He did it again Wednesday morning, sneaking onto Twitter to change his bio to this:
“Innocent until proven guilty — lack of knowledge & information is just ignorance — the unjust/ prejudicial treatment of diff categories of people is discrimination.”
We all know that we shouldn’t believe everything we read on Twitter, and that goes double for this guy. Hardy wasn’t innocent until proven guilty. He actually was guilty when proven guilty after a judge in North Carolina convicted him on charges of domes- tic violence against Holder in July 2014.
Hardy appealed, seeking a jury trial, and the case was dismissed when Holder did not show up at the second trial after receiving a settlement from Hardy. Holder did provide the graphic testimony in the first trial that convicted Hardy.
One of Cowboys coach Jason Garrett’s chief tasks these days is Greg Hardy damage control, and he was back at it Wednesday afternoon, saying he had dealt with
Hardy “in- house” and was moving “forward.”
By USA TODAY Sports’ Eric Prisbell’s count, this is the fourth incident involving Hardy that Garrett has had to address in the month Hardy has been playing with the team, including his sexist comments about Tom Brady’s wife and the fit he threw on the sideline, pushing and shoving teammates and coaches during the New York Giants game.
Garrett clearly has made a deal with the devil. Hardy is an accomplished pass rusher, so good at what he does that Garrett is willing to ignore just how awful a person he is. It’s hard to imagine an athlete trying harder to be bad. Then again, by accepting his behavior, the Cowboys have given Hardy absolutely no reason to change.
Here is a statistic that Elias Sports Bureau might want to consider for Hardy moving forward: sacks- per- misbehavior. So far, it’s even, four sacks to four incidents ( not counting the violence against Holder).
What’s next? More of the same, I’m afraid. The NFL already suspended Hardy, so if Commissioner Roger Goodell tried to suspend him again, which I personally would love, the NFLPA would be in court within the hour to get him reinstated. Perhaps someday the union will have the fortitude to tell a monster like Hardy that he’s on his own.
You might figure that some of the league’s good guys, the ones we’re pretty certain aren’t hitting people at home, would speak up and say they didn’t want Hardy around just as quite a few did about Rice in the hours after the video of his punch surfaced in September 2014. But no. Not even Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, whose family escaped an abusive father when he was 11 and who runs a foundation that provides support and assistance for those affected by domestic violence.
Witten has offered no public opinions about Hardy’s presence on the team since last spring, when he said that while his stand against domestic violence was “unwavering,” Hardy “is a team- mate of mine, so I think you have to look at it from that standpoint.” He then went on to praise Hardy’s work ethic.
See the problem we have here, folks? Not even a man who has made a good chunk of his life’s work trying to eradicate domestic violence will speak out against Hardy.
We want him to change, to be contrite and not get into more trouble, but why should we think that’s ever going to happen? Let Witten be our guide. We’re stuck with this guy exactly as is.