Injuries to Tony Romo and Dez Bryant derailed the Dallas Cowboys’ 2015 campaign, but the team constantly defended Greg Hardy’s presence. That might not continue into the offseason.
According to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News, one-time Hardy supporters slowly began to “sour on him” as the season neared its conclusion.
“A few teammates who had supported Hardy early began to sour on him late in the season, in part because his perpetual tardiness for team meetings never resulted in a reduction of playing time. Tardiness was also an issue for Hardy with his previous teams.”
Well, from the rest of us, dear Cowboys, it’s about time.
If tardiness was the last straw, fine. After being found guilty of “assault on a female and communicating threats,” the former Carolina Panthers standout didn’t exactly become a model citizen during his second chance.
From a sideline altercation with a special teams coach, changing his Twitter bio to “innocent until proven guilty” — which he was — making inappropriate comments about Tom Brady’s wife and her sister, Hardy consistently created the controversy by himself.
But we should not expect NFL teams to uphold moral virtues or represent the upstanding member of society. As Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said earlier in 2015, “If Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3, we’d probably diagnose it as an eating disorder.”
Dallas gave Hardy a one-year contract and chance to prove he could change. That didn’t happen. Even if the Cowboys don’t re-sign him, another franchise will probably swoop in and offer Hardy an incentive-based contract. That’s the way the NFL works.
When he ultimately inks a deal in free agency, maybe by some miracle Hardy will acknowledge his previous wrongdoings and actually act like a caring person.
Or he won’t. And that team will part ways with Hardy after one season.
We’ll arrive at this spot once again, stubbornly hoping the 29 other NFL teams have finally soured on Hardy, too.