The Dallas Cowboys had a rough run this NFL season. The once Super Bowl hopefuls now content themselves watching other football teams battle it out in the playoffs. While the injury of Tony Romo saw the Dallas Cowboys spiral out of control, fans initially hoped for a Cinderella story. However, such was not the case for the Dez Bryant squad. Instead of rising from the ashes of their consecutive losses, Romo's return proved to be futile to the fulfillment of the team's playoffs dreams.
Apart from the collarbone injury of Romo, the Dallas Cowboys also struggled to keep their players in line. Bryant had been reported to get involved in scuffles against his teammates both during practices and actual games. Greg Hardy, who had been involved in legal and personal drama, posed issues for the football squad throughout the season. In addition, the defensive end had been widely reported to be part of rifts in the NFL team. To top it all, Hardy's tardiness and absences in group meetings appeared to have taken a toll among his teammates.
Following the end of the Super Bowl run of the Dallas Cowboys this season, the future of Hardy in the team came into question. Fans speculated that the disruptions brought about by the DE's personal issues might push Jerry Jones to part with the football star. Moreover, head coach Jason Garrett is reportedly not keen in re-signing Hardy.
"We're not going to discuss," said Jones on 105.3 The Fan's Shan and RJ Show [KRLD-FM] via Dallas News, referring to the question of Hardy's future. The Dallas Cowboys owner added, "We just aren't in a position, and I don't mean to disrespect your question, but we not only shouldn't, but we don't have to. We've got to evaluate so succinctly everything that we did. And in doing so, we'll evaluate every step any of our players took and then we'll be commenting on what our plans are."
While Jones refused to delve into issues regarding the contract, the exec noted that Hardy contributed well during games. The NFL team owner also acknowledged that the former Carolina Panthers DE needed help in matters outside the sport. However, Jones reiterated his respect and admiration for Hardy - comments that still failed to clarify the player's future in the football team.
Jones shared, "He [Hardy] was the player on the field. He was the player on the field. Off the field, we certainly had adjustments that were made. He cooperated all the way. And, so, when I look back, his will, his willingness, his attitude relative to being a team player, those all don't give me a problem at all." He added, "But he is a free agent technically at this time. And, so, really it wouldn't be good one way or the other competitively, if you want to start there. But it wouldn't be good for me to comment on him because I don't want to comment on any player."
Meanwhile, Garrett's words regarding the matter were also carefully scrutinized by sports analysts. Todd Archer of ESPN noted that the head coach praised Hardy's work this season. However, the sports expert pointed out that Garrett failed to comment beyond the recently concluded games. That is, the Dallas Cowboys head coach opted not to introduce any possibility of a return for the erring player.
"I thought Greg did some good things for us on the field, defended the run well at times, impacted the quarterback at different times during the game," shared Garrett.
As for Hardy, the DE expressed his intentions of staying with the Dallas Cowboys. In the same ESPN report, the football star was quoted as saying that he would "love" to stay with the Romo squad. He added, "My man [Jerry Jones] took a nice chance on me, and I would love to repay that debt with a million sacks and a ton of wins. We couldn't, so I would say it was very mal -- for my Spanish friends -- mucho mal."
