phinsfansc wrote:
Phins, one question here for you. Have any of these stories of Dez being late and missing practices, have ANY of these stories been validated by Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy? I don't recall seeing his name associated with any of these stories.
Dave, Dez Bryant has no criminal record. Is there a maturity issue and could he do better job of choosing the people he associates with, most definitely. But understand that this is a kid that went a stretch without a mother because she was in prison for selling drugs and his father was no where to be seen. Those are not the best of circumstances to go from a child to a young man with values, solid values in place.
Also consider this. The Dolphins were pretty serious about Percy Harvin last year and this is a kid that had issues of violence in high school, drug issues in college and failed the drug test at the combine for marijuana.
And while I don't do this to often, I will defend Deion Sanders. I still blame Sanders for Bryant's suspension because how many of these college kids know the rules of contact with former athletes. The kid panicked because he thought he was getting OSU in trouble and lied. That does not excuse what he did and how he handled it, but if Deion is going to call himself being mentor for these kids, he needs to know what is the NCAA rules are.
Deion does indeed try to work with these kids, but in a lot of cases it is very hard to try to change a young man ways when there was no structure in there lives when they were young. Adam Jones is a kid that had a horrible youth and it shows. Your values are set in your youth, the discipline that you have and knowing right from wrong are instilled in you as a youth.
As far as Dez commenting on the negativity surrounding him right now, I also wish he would have just let it go. But this is were his immaturity can get him in trouble, but I also understand that it is hard to read and be constantly trashed and attacked. We have had some pretty heated arguments on these boards between posters, so we should know what the young man feels. I would hope Eugene Parker will talk with Dez and let him know that he just needs to continue to work and prepare and be ready for his individual meetings with teams.
As far as sympathy in the NFL, it does not exist. What the NFL is definitely about is finding kids that can play the game of football, kids that can be a difference maker in the NFL. You look on all of these various sites and there boards and there top 100, top 50, you will see Dez Bryant in those top 10-12 list. Dez Bryant is an elite talent, don't make a mistake about that or twist that.
Once again, I will be a little surprised if Dez is the pick because of Parcells history of drafting wide receivers. But Sparano has acknowledged that a big play receiver is needed, and if he is there and you go by BPA, there are not going to be to many players if any on the board at #12 that are better than Bryant.
I agree with a lot of what you said here man.
No, the stories have not been "validated", but this is not media speculation like Vontae last year; this is former teammates being quoted as saying these things; former coaches being quoted as saying these things.
I feel for the guy because of his background, but this is a serious business, and sympathy, like you said, doesn't fly. From a Bill Parcells standpoint, it does not matter whether he grew up with both parents, brother and sisters in a rural area, or grew up on the streets with cousins who dealed crack to get by. If he does not have it mentally, he does not have it, and we have to move on from him.
No doubt, Dez is an immense talent. In the last 7 drafts, I would say that he is the 2nd best WR to come out, talent wise, only behind Calvin Johnson. I think he is the 4th most talented player in this draft, and would definitely be the BAA at 12. Would he really be the BPA though, Tony?
This draft is too good and too deep to be taking risks in the first round. Miami has a great chance to fill a lot of needs with very solid players. I don't think they should be taking that big of a chance at 12.
I would say though that from Dez's standpoint, the Dolphins would be the ideal team. He would have the discipline put in place that he clearly did not have growing up or in College.
And Tony, we don't know if Miami was serious about Harvin. That could have been a smokescreen. Clay Mathews certainly was....