Storyline: I agree 100% everyone should receive a second, and even a third, chance. Like comedian Katt Williams says: “I’m on my 5th “second chance” right now.” But second chances aren’t entitled, they’re earned. Written by Joe Rodriguez, North New Jersey
In light of published graphic and disconcerting photos pertaining to Dallas Cowboys star defensive lineman, Greg Hardy, many people have asked themselves an important question: At what point does morality trump talent?
Courtesy: Deadspin
Here’s the skinny for those of you who have been living under a rock the past year. Greg Hardy was the one-time Carolina Panther and stud pass-rusher. He was charged for, and found guilty of, assaulting then-girlfriend Nicole Holder. Hardy appealed the case. Yet when it was time for Holder to testify she was nowhere to be found, leading Judge Thorn-Tin to drop all charges.
District Attorney, Andrew Murray, stated that he received reasonable information that Holder was paid off by Hardy, while Judge Thorn-Tin was quoted as saying: “The court is entirely convinced Greg Hardy is guilty of assault on a female and communicating threats.”
With all that being said, Hardy was still technically absolved from all charges (charges that were also expunged this past week). He missed the remainder of the 2014-2015 season after only playing the first week of the regular season.
Cue in the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, and his hefty checkbook. Jones signed Hardy to a one-year, $11.3 million dollar bargain. (Yes $11 million is a bargain.) Still, though, Hardy was suspended by the NFL for 10 games, which was appealed and reduced by the NFLPA (not Commissioner Roger Goodell) to 4 games.
Dallas, like every other team, has had questionable signings. Jerry Jones recently took a chance drafting the highly touted, yet troubled, rookie, Randy Gregory (60th overall), and signing the diva-ish star wide-out Terrell Owens, who was basically kicked out of Philadelphia for his constant head-bumps with QB Donovan McNabb.
While many would love nothing more than to point at the “shameful Cowboys” as if the public were scolding a reprehensible dog, the Dallas Cowboys still are not the only team that courted the problematic and highly talented, Greg Hardy. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers spent a whole day with the pass rusher–to the point that management wrote out a hopeful contract. Nonetheless, they took a step back when they came to realize Hardy was headstrong on signing with Dallas.
This not a new concept for the Cowboys, but also it’s pretty much the status quo for the entire league. The formula is simple:
Player screws up + Player can still play at a high level = Player will undoubtedly receive a second and possibly even a third chance.
Courtesy: Yahoo! Sports
Don’t believe me? He goes by Adam now, but during his first few years in the NFL, Adam “Pacman” Jones played for the Tennessee Titans. A young cornerback with infinite potential on the field, he was a mess off it. Floyd Reese (the General Manager who drafted Jones) said Jones was everything the Titans had hoped for on the field, but he’d been “nothing but a disaster off the field.”
That statement tells you everything you need to know about what a huge liability Jones was off the field. Brawls at strip clubs, being involved in shootings that caused one man to be paralyzed, connections with drug dealers, and countless arrests constitute his “rap sheet.” Jones was ultimately suspended for the entire 2007 season–the first time in 44 years a player was suspended for an offense not related to substance abuse.
Adam Jones has always claimed his innocence, yet a document published in April 2008 stated that Jones paid off $15,000 to various people involved with the 2007 Las Vegas shooting in which he was implicated.
That’s the great thing about our culture and the NFL as a whole. Jones received a second chance after bouncing from the Cowboys and then the Canadian Football League. Jones finally found a home with the Cincinnati Bengals where he has thrived and earned First-Team All-Pro Honors in 2014. However, more importantly than any athletic achievement, Adam Jones turned his life around.
For those taking notes, that’s how it’s done. You can make a mistake, after all. We’re all humans and mistakes are a part of life. Yet when it comes down to it, you must be contrite. You have to mean it when you tell the public, “Yes! I screwed up. I’m a good person who did a bad thing.”
But that’s a far cry from Greg Hardy’s attitude. There isn’t any contrition. And the behavior continues, like making off-colored remarks about Tom Brady’s wife and slamming the clipboard out of Coach Rich Bisaccia’s hands.
Yes, I agree 100% everyone should receive a second, and even a third, chance. Like comedian Katt Williams says: “I’m on my 5th “second chance” right now.” But second chances aren’t entitled, they’re earned.
In a position that’s so valued, as a pass-rusher, it’s a good sign that only two teams realistically pursued Greg Hardy. Yet it still forces management and fans to look into the mirror, searching for a moral compass, asking:
When does “talent trumping moral values” cross the line?
