Greg Hardy’s poor behavior has placed him squarely in the eyes of the public, who are constantly ready for the Dallas Cowboys defensive end to slip up. From an outside perspective, Hardy has clearly been a problem.
However, according to ESPN’s Jean-Jacques Taylor, sources said team owner Jerry Jones met with Hardy to discuss how he can avoid creating negative attention.
Additionally, Jones said Hardy has agreed to work on changing his behavior.
“He is aware that everything he does — his personality, his style, his enthusiasm — it’s all going to be interpreted negatively. If he’s not aware of that, then he’s hurting a lot of people. … I think he really gets that. We certainly feel that way. He understands it, and he has agreed to really work on it.”
The problems stem from Hardy being found guilty of domestic violence, though the charges were dropped because his the accuser, ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder, failed to show up in court. Although the NFL suspended him for violation of the league’s personal conduct policy, he still found a new football home.
Since then, Hardy has confronted a coach on the sidelines, made inappropriate comments about Tom Brady’s wife, missed practices and team meetings as well as using bad judgment on social media.
Whether or not Hardy should be in the NFL at this moment isn’t the issue that matters. Like it or not, he’s there. And that’s not changing unless the 27-year-old does something deemed worthy of a release.
Rather, it’s that the Cowboys defender has shown zero remorse for a merciless assault for which he was found guilty. Second chances can be a great thing, but Hardy hasn’t done anything to suggest he’s even slightly disgusted at himself for the previous actions.
Hopefully these aren’t empty words from Jones and Hardy has finally recognized the magnitude of his mistakes.
No matter what, though, Hardy will remain in the headlines while we watch his behavioral rehabilitation or another fall. That’s a sure bet.