ESNY

There’s no question the air surrounding Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Greg Hardy stinks. Here’s why you shouldn’t worry about it.

By Chris Schulz

Last month was a milestone for the NFL. September was the first calendar month in six years where no player was arrested. This is actually great news considering the NFL wears the ugliest of black eyes in the public spectrum of all professional sports when it comes to its players’ conduct.

It’s progress.

Then there’s Dallas Cowboys’ defensive end Greg Hardy who brings that feeling of short-term behavioral evolution of NFL players back down to earth. No, Greg Hardy did not get arrested in addition to his domestic violence charge of May 2014 where he reportedly beat his girlfriend and threw her on a sofa covered with assault rifles among other things.

Instead Hardy showed on Tuesday that he has learned nothing from being placed on the NFL’s commissioner exempt list for the 2014 season or from the short four-game suspension he served earlier this season to which he’ll return from on Sunday against the New England Patriots. Hardy told reporters on Tuesday, “I hope I come out guns blazing.” Speaking of the Patriots, on the subject of facing Tom Brady, Hardy said, “I love seeing Tom Brady. You seen his wife? I hope she comes to the game. I hope her sister comes to the game.”

All Greg Hardy had to do was keep his mouth shut about anything concerning women or guns; and he failed. He showed that missing the 2014 season or the first quarter of this year has no bearing on his mindset. His comments to reporters on Tuesday showed that he has no conscience awareness of the impact of his past actions, nor shows any remorse about the sensitivity of the subjects or respect of women or gun control. If Hardy did, he would have thought through his comments before saying them to reporters and he failed.

Now some may be apologetic towards Hardy by saying Brady’s wife is an attractive woman and he isn’t the first player to say that, or he isn’t the first player to use the common expression of “coming out guns blazing.” That’s a fair point but those players probably didn’t have a recent history of domestic violence where the reported details of the incident were extremely troubling, or have a couch full of assault rifles that he threatened to use against his victim.

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But don’t expect Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones to take any real issue with Hardy’s comments because Jones told SI.com, “Well, you’re not allowed to have guns on the football field. We all know that’s just a way of expressing yourself. I hope his guns are ablazin.” Thanks Mr. Jones for clarifying that NFL players aren’t allowed to use guns while playing football. Jerry Jones is just another figure in the NFL that enables talented players to say and do whatever they want as long as they produce on the field and help win football games.

If the public wants Greg Hardy to change his ways or his personal outlook on women or guns, don’t look to the man who writes his game checks or his teammates. If Hardy plays well and does what he’s paid to do, which is sack the quarterback, he will continue to play in the league and get paid handsomely for it. But you shouldn’t be worried about the possibility of Hardy being suspended or banned from the NFL again. If his comments from Tuesday are an indicator of how much he has grown as a person since his arrest in May of 2014, he will not have a long NFL career.

Rutgers Alum, local fan of the New York Mets and New Jersey Devils, football fan of the Denver Broncos and Georgia Bulldogs.