Coming off an All-Pro performance as a rookie last season, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott should be fully focused on preparing for training camp this summer. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, that has taken a back seat due to multiple off-field incidents.
Already potentially set to be suspended by the NFL for his alleged role in a domestic violence situation, Elliott was apparently involved in a bar fight in Dallas over the weekend. No charges have been filed and it’s not yet known whether Elliott himself threw any punches. Though, the incident is already under investigation by the powers to be in the NFL.
It goes without saying that Elliott needs to mature off the field. Potentially even up to the point of hanging out with different people. That’s the stance Hall of Fame former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett took recently in offering some advice to the much-maligned young ball carrier.
“It’s like an avalanche. When it comes down it could come crushing down on you, so you’ve got to be careful. You’ve got to pick and choose your people,” Dorsett said, via Newy Scruggs of NBC5 in Dallas. “That’s the unfortunate part about it is the fact that there’s a lot of people when you get that stardom they want to be a part of it. They want to be seen with you. They want to do this with you. They want to do that with you.”
Each individual person is responsible for his or her actions. Anyone saying otherwise doesn’t comprehend human nature itself. Though, Dorsett has a darn good point here. Elliott must steer clear of those people and incidents that have seemed to plague him over the past calendar year. That’s something he can surely change.
“Sometimes you got to be a little standoffish. You can be appreciative, ‘Thank you for all of this, but no I don’t want to go there,” Dorsett continued. “I’m not going there. I’m not going to do this.’ Plus you get caught up into positions. Then you go to a party. You don’t know these people, but some people take you to a place. You don’t know who they are, and then something goes down. The first thing they’re going to do is not going to be their names that’s splattered all over the Dallas Morning News. It’s going to be his name.”
This is some advice Elliott himself should definitely listen to. Throughout his 11-year career with the Cowboys, Dorsett never found himself in the news for the wrong reasons. Instead, he put his head down and went to work every day. It led to him being considered the greatest Cowboys running back in history following his retirement 30 years ago.