Do the social media videos of Dez Bryant and Cowboys QB Dak Prescott working out send a dangerous message? Should the league step in?
Some people just love to stir the pot. But when the pot in question is silver and blue and belongs to the Dallas Cowboys, it seems as though there are never enough stir sticks to go around.
Those workout videos that wide receiver Dez Bryant has been posting as he attempts to launch an NFL comeback bid have been a fun story to follow. Watching him ramp up his efforts to coax a contract out of his former employers in Dallas has been tantalizing for Cowboys fans, many of whom are eager to see the free agent throw up the X once again with a star on his helmet. His most recent sessions- ones that include current Cowboys Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott among his workout buddies- have raised the bar even further.
And also raised the ire of one Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.
Florio penned a piece on the website this week in which he lambastes Bryant and Prescott, who he says”continue to disregard important restrictions to out-of-home activities as communities throughout the world try to limit the potential spread of the coronavirus.”
The NFL insider claims the two “continue to flaunt their defiance of rules that have caused millions to change their habits dramatically.”
Florio then spoke by phone with Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan to elaborate, and he went so far as to call on the league to step in and take preventative or even disciplinary action.
“As of March 31, for the entire state of Texas, the executive order from the the governor was that people ‘shall avoid’- ‘shall avoid’- not may, not should, not we would like you to, but ‘shall,’ which is mandatory. You must do this. ‘Avoid eating or drinking at bars, restaurants, or food courts, or visiting gyms.’ And this happened at the A+D1 Training Facility in Dallas County, Texas. And Dallas County has taken it a step farther. The Dallas County order is that… ‘All public or private gatherings of any number of people occurring outside a single household or living unit are prohibited.’
“So this isn’t about what they were doing while they were there and, ‘Are they within six feet of each other?’ Look, setting aside the fact that they’re passing around a football, and if any of them have the virus on their fingers, and we’re all supposed to assume we have the virus, well, they’re putting it on the football and they’re passing it to somebody else who’s getting the virus off the football and then they’re going to have it. Apart from all that, they’re defying state and local orders that prevent them from going to this facility and that require them to be at home.
“And to make matters worse, they aren’t just brazenly violating these orders. They are flaunting it, stupidly, by putting the evidence of it on social media.”
“It’s astounding to me that the NFL has nothing to say about it,” Florio continued. “This is reckless, dangerous behavior. It sends a horrible message to anyone out there who looks up to Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant, idolizes them, and maybe emulates them.”
In these unprecedented times, everyone is trying to figure out and adapt to rules and guidelines that are changing daily life on a daily basis. There’s little going on in the world that’s normal; in the sports world, it’s been an especially slow news day for over a month now. It’s perhaps easier than ever for somebody with a platform to sit back and monitor social media with an eye toward blasting someone else for behaving (or not behaving) in a certain way that adheres to a particular worldview.
It’s fingerpointing and whistleblowing and whataboutism run amok. And now it’s a legitimate story.
Because the thing is, technically speaking, Florio makes a valid point. Cowboys fans- whether or not they feel Bryant is worthy of a roster spot- probably should be at least mildly concerned about their franchise quarterback seemingly putting himself at a higher risk of catching the virus.
If he wasn’t worried before, owner Jerry Jones honestly should be mindful of the optics at work here. The face of the franchise is out there doing something that the rest of us aren’t supposed to be doing… and he’s jeopardizing his own health (and the team’s sizable investment) in the process.
Granted, it’s a workout. A game of catch. It’s not DUI. It’s not a weapons charge. It’s not a security video of a bar brawl or a 911 call detailing something darker. But these days when going to the grocery store to buy toilet paper isn’t even a simple endeavor anymore, it’s putting the organization in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Is this a news story if the players involved are Cincinnati Bengals or Jacksonville Jaguars? Truthfully, probably not.
But the rules are different for America’s Team. Always have been. And the simple fact is, when it’s the Dallas Football Cowboys, the spotlight is just a little brighter, the microscope is just a tad bigger.
Commissioner Roger Goodell has made an example of the Cowboys to the rest of the league before. It’s not hard to believe that some form of communication has already been drafted and sent to teams about minding the rules in the COVID-19 era.
“If you’ve got players who are violating the local laws that say ‘thou shall stay home during this pandemic,’ Florio told hosts Shan and RJ, “and they are both creating a real risk of spreading the virus, and sending a horrible message to others who may be influenced to do the same thing, I would like to see the NFL do something. Even if you’re not going to suspend anyone or fine anyone under the personal conduct policy. I want the commissioner to post a video, to issue a statement, telling all players who are in the NFL or hope to be back like Dez Bryant, that they must comply with all applicable state and local requirements as what they should and shouldn’t be doing during this pandemic.”
For his part, Bryant has already heard the buzz over his workout routines. It sounds as though his comeback campaign will continue, even if it means running shelter-in-place route trees from now on.
