Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was arrested earlier in the month on a Class-A family violence charge after allegedly grabbing his mother’s hair and slapping her. Since initial reports, Bryant doesn’t look like the monster that many would like to believe. His brother, who was at the scene, said Bryant never hit their mother and Bryant’s mother decided against pressing charges.
While Bryant and his family are dealing with the matter and putting it behind them, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett still believes that Bryant could benefit from some counseling.
Garrett said the Cowboys are willing to assist Bryant with counseling and he hopes that their promising young receiver will take advantage of the opportunity.
“We believe we have as good of a players’ assistance program in all of professional sports,” Garrett said, according to the San Antonio Express-News. “We believe it’s really, really important to help our players in every way that we can. We’re well-staffed in that area. We believe in counseling for people who need it. We try to do that for all of our players. Dez will be a part of that and we just want to help him. We have great resources. We embrace the opportunity to help him.”
Garrett and Bryant have been in regular contact since Bryant was initially charged with the misdemeanor. He has taken an active role in helping Bryant and will continue to provide him with every opportunity to get back on the right track.
“First and foremost, we support Dez Bryant’s family,” Garrett said. “We support Dez. We support his mom. We want to help them in anyway we can. We have the resources to do that. He needs to feel the support. He needs to feel the support from us – the Dallas Cowboys organization, the coaches, the players, the staff. We are a close-knit team. We are a team that wants to support people on our team. We want to support our family. Dez is part of our family. We are going to help him in any way we can.”
While Bryant is likely to avoid any league discipline from this latest run in with authorities, it is still a good idea for him to take advantage of the counseling he is being offered.
Bryant has said that he is entering this season in the best shape of his NFL career and he needs his mind to be in the right place in order for him to reach his full potential. If the Cowboys can get a matured Dez Bryant on the field in 2012, it will be a very scary sight for opposing defenses.
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