Dez says no to carrying Roy Williams' pads after practice

gonzagacubs said:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=5409306

I don't blame him. Roy is a bum. Perhaps Roy should worry about catching passes before he starts asking someone to carry his pads. Besides, the other receivers will probably have to carry the workload during the season because Roy can't catch.

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NFL rookies are often required to carry veterans' pads as a sort of training camp hazing ritual. But Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant wants no part of it.

Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com reports that Roy Williams gave his pads to Bryant today, and Bryant refused to carry them.

"I'm not doing it," Bryant said. "I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."

Bryant says this isn't a case of a first-round pick thinking he's above an NFL tradition. Instead, it's about a player who says he won't tolerate being treated badly.

"If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing," Bryant said. "I just feel like I'm here to play football. I'm here to try to help win a championship, not carry someone's pads. I'm saying that out of no disrespect to [anyone]."

But Williams says Bryant was wrong to refuse his request.

"Everybody has to go through it," Williams said. "I had to go through it. No matter if you're a No. 1 pick or the 7,000th pick, you've still got to do something when you're a rookie. I carried pads. I paid for dinners. I paid for lunches. I did everything I was supposed to do, because I didn't want to be that guy."

Although the Cowboys' decision to draft Bryant was widely viewed as a sign that the team is less than thrilled with Williams' performance, both Bryant and Williams have steadfastly insisted that there's no bad blood between them. That stance of unity between Bryant and Williams lasted through all of two days of training camp.

UPDATE: After seeing this item, Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman weighed in on Twitter about what Williams' next step should be...."Dump his ass in the COLD TUB"

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gonzagacubs said:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=5409306

I don't blame him. Roy is a bum. Perhaps Roy should worry about catching passes before he starts asking someone to carry his pads. Besides, the other receivers will probably have to carry the workload during the season because Roy can't catch.

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Rickzcards said:

gonzagacubs said:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=5409306

I don't blame him. Roy is a bum. Perhaps Roy should worry about catching passes before he starts asking someone to carry his pads. Besides, the other receivers will probably have to carry the workload during the season because Roy can't catch.

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Hell, Roy couldn't carry Dez's jock so why should Dez carry his pads? I think Dez might be the steal of the draft and I hate the Cowgirls.

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KandKCards said:

gonzagacubs said:

http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/news/story?id=5409306

I don't blame him. Roy is a bum. Perhaps Roy should worry about catching passes before he starts asking someone to carry his pads. Besides, the other receivers will probably have to carry the workload during the season because Roy can't catch.

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The symbolic meaning to this is huge though. Every rookie on every team has ALWAYS carried the vets' pads. Roy Williams does suck, but Dez needs to know his place!

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J-Rod said:

I don't necessarily blame him but hazing is hazing he just set himself up for something worse

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jamuser304 said:

Rookie hazing is stupid and pointless anyways. Just like fraternity hazing, I dont see the point. How does that form bonding? Because they went through it? I think they would form a stronger bond by meeting each others family, and socializing outside of football. Not by forcing someone to do something you are capable of doing yourself. If Dez wants to, great, but he shouldnt be forced to because of mere tradition. They only thing he should be forced to do is play football and win games. If he cant do that, then he shouldnt be there.

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dfr52 said:

jamuser304 said:

Rookie hazing is stupid and pointless anyways. Just like fraternity hazing, I dont see the point. How does that form bonding? Because they went through it? I think they would form a stronger bond by meeting each others family, and socializing outside of football. Not by forcing someone to do something you are capable of doing yourself. If Dez wants to, great, but he shouldnt be forced to because of mere tradition. They only thing he should be forced to do is play football and win games. If he cant do that, then he shouldnt be there.

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LOL, hazing is part of sports. Carrying pads is pretty weak hazing so I don't know what his beef was. I really hope they tape him to a goal post or something worse.

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pigskincardboard said:

Are you guys really bashing this as hazing? He's carrying pads and eventually grabbing a dinner or two. They're not playing Dr. Broomstick with the kid, they're asking them to carry pads.

Benefits of carrying pads: You have something to talk to your rookie class about. Shared experience. Respect.
Negatives of carrying pads: They smell. They weigh about a 2lbs.

If this was Andre Gurode or somebody, maybe you'd view it differently. Dez Bryant needs to get *it* in a hurry. He's being paid to play football but football isn't an individual game. I don't think you have to get along with everyone, but there's gotta be some sort of cohesion. Honestly, Roy may suck but he can still block. If Dez wants to turn those 10 yard hitches into 70-yard game breakers, you gotta play nice with your downfield blocking.

and yes, he should be buying dinner for some of the older guys. I get the feeling that Dez Bryant won't be the guy that halts "hazing."

Although I have nothing to base this on, I also get the feeling that after posting a 1000 yard season and winning ROY, Dez Bryant will be the first to say, "Hey Rook, buy me dinner."

It really seems like this is an issue of insecurity. Dez Bryant's never been anyone's bitch and doesn't seem to get that this isn't about being inferior to Roy on the field. This is about being the youngest guy in the office. I've seen kids straight out of Oxford become coffee boys for the first three months. They still contribute to meetings and often provide some of the greatest insight but they also drop 20 bucks on starbucks a day for a couple months.

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Card Magnet said:

dfr52 said:

jamuser304 said:

Rookie hazing is stupid and pointless anyways. Just like fraternity hazing, I dont see the point. How does that form bonding? Because they went through it? I think they would form a stronger bond by meeting each others family, and socializing outside of football. Not by forcing someone to do something you are capable of doing yourself. If Dez wants to, great, but he shouldnt be forced to because of mere tradition. They only thing he should be forced to do is play football and win games. If he cant do that, then he shouldnt be there.

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LOL, hazing is part of sports. Carrying pads is pretty weak hazing so I don't know what his beef was. I really hope they tape him to a goal post or something worse.

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A popular thing is to wrap the guy to a field goal post and dump ice inside.

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dfr52 said:

jamuser304 said:

Rookie hazing is stupid and pointless anyways. Just like fraternity hazing, I dont see the point. How does that form bonding? Because they went through it? I think they would form a stronger bond by meeting each others family, and socializing outside of football. Not by forcing someone to do something you are capable of doing yourself. If Dez wants to, great, but he shouldnt be forced to because of mere tradition. They only thing he should be forced to do is play football and win games. If he cant do that, then he shouldnt be there.

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LOL, hazing is part of sports. Carrying pads is pretty weak hazing so I don't know what his beef was. I really hope they tape him to a goal post or something worse.

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wheeler281 said:

Dez has proven in the past he works with his own set of rules. Kid will find out soon. The vets will get him. Just that simple act of not going along with tradition says a ton to me. He is lucky pushover Phillips is the HC.

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