What You Need To Know About The DEZstractions

[Jiggyfly]

What You Need To Know About The DEZstractions
November 13, 2014 12:58 PM



By Shan Shariff | @newschoolSS
DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) – This past Sunday morning, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport said the Cowboys were hesitant to offer big money to Dez Bryant because of off the field concerns.
In his story on NFL.com, Rapoport stated:

“I went to the DeSoto (Texas) City Police Department. I found six instances of police coming to Dez Bryant’s house — that’s where he lives, in DeSoto. Among the incidents — and none of these were convictions — there was a harassment incident, there was a robbery at his house, the fire department had to come and unlock his car that had a sleeping baby inside.

All of these things give the Cowboys cause for concern. He’s had anger management; they have a manager with him at all times. But they are very nervous, and this is one reason they have not wanted to give him the guaranteed money that most elite receivers get.”

Rapoport joined “Shan & RJ” on Monday morning and explained the last of these incidents took place in November of 2013.

I wanted to know exactly how many incidents there were and how recently these calls to the police took place.

Was it Dez involved? Was it members of his family? What were the exact details in the reports? Was this actually his home or was it being occupied by others?

The first thing I found was that the incidents cited in the NFL Network report took place at a DeSoto home that was owned, at least during part of that period when the incidents took place, and possibly all of the period, by Senator Royce West, who has provided legal counsel for Dez in the past.

The Texas Tribune’s “Ethics Explorer”, which they dub “A Guide to the Financial Interests of Elected Officials”, states the following about West’s relationship with Dez Bryant.
“West reported annual 2011 income in excess of $25,000 from Desmond Bryant. The senator told the Tribune the payments were for rent, but he wouldn’t confirm if it’s the same Desmond Bryant, a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, whom he represented in a domestic violence case.”

I also requested information from the DeSoto Police Department for the events referenced in the NFL Network report.

I’ll go through each “concern” with my thoughts on why these issues should NOT be a factor in extending Dez Bryant.

But first, there are a few things you should know:

While it is almost certain that Dez Bryant rented the DeSoto, Texas home owned by Senator West in 2011, I also found a different DeSoto address — a home owned by his long-time mentor David Wells — listed as Bryant’s address in 2011. This means that West’s rental home may or may not have been his primary residence at the time of the 2011 incidents described in the reports supplied by the police. Moving into 2012 and 2013, it is uncertain whether Dez Bryant maintained any connection at all with the address of Senator West’s rental home.

For example, in the 2012 arrest warrant for the misdemeanor family violence incident with his mother, the description of the incident in the affidavit says that police showed up at a different address (the home owned by David Wells) and there is no mention of police showing up at the home owned by Senator West. At the top of the arrest warrant, it lists Senator West’s rental home as Dez Bryant’s address, along with his driver’s license number, height, weight, hair color, eye color, and other vital info.

If he moved but he hadn’t updated his official address with the DMV and other government agencies yet, it seems likely that his old address would appear here.

If you had to bet $10,000 on which of these two homes Dez Bryant lived in at the time this warrant was issued in 2012, would you pick the official address listed at the top which came from government records, or would you pick the address the police specifically said they showed up at?

Bryant’s name only appears in the police call sheets from the DeSoto Police Department for one incident (the “harassment” incident) in September of 2011. Given that there is no reference to Bryant in the reports the police provided regarding the other incidents, it is not clear at all whether or not Bryant was even directly involved in these other incidents.

“Harassment”
Sept. 4, 2011 – The report states that someone kept calling and texting the reporting party, saying “we can make this work.” The police officer called the incoming number and left a message stating that they were not to call or text further or a harassment by phone report would be made. The reporting party told the officer they would notify the officer if the messages continued.
Of all the reports I reviewed, this was the only one where the name “Bryant” appeared in a call made to police. I believe that either Dez or someone else with the same last name was the reporting party, meaning it was likely they were receiving the messages, not sending them.

“Baby locked inside car”
Sept. 16, 2011 – Fire services were dispatched to the address based on a report that keys were locked inside a black Escalade with a baby inside. The car was not running. No names other than the assisting officer were listed in the report.

“Stolen Vehicle”
Aug. 17, 2012 – The reporting party contacted the police wanting to add property to a stolen vehicle report. The name “Terrence Johnson” appears several times in a chart on the event report, but the only context for this name appearing were the labels “Enter CallerNm” and “Changed CallerNm.” Coincidentally, the previous owner of the property had the last name Johnson. And a Terrance Johnson was identified in connection with one of the incidents that took place the following year.
In any event, there is no record of who in fact made the call to the police, and it appears the police were not able to reach the reporting party by phone.

“Burglary”
June 2, 2013 – The incident report indicates a call was made from the residence to report a burglary, stating that someone broke into the house while they were asleep. According to police records, a Terrence Johnson was listed as the victim in the case, with two other persons present: a Jacolby Webb and a Kreston Plouche. There is no mention of Dez Bryant being present in any of the reports provided by the police department.

In addition, DeSoto police records show that there was a call for burglary in progress at this same exact address in 2007, approximately two years before Senator West purchased the home and several years before Dez Bryant allegedly lived there. Given that Dez Bryant is not mentioned in the police reports as being present, and the fact there had been a previous burglary report at that same house several years earlier, there is no reason to believe the alleged burglary in 2013 was related to Dez Bryant having possibly resided at this home.

“Neighborhood Patrol”
Nov. 24, 2013 – This is the final report provided by the police for this address and regards a “neighborhood patrol.” There are no additional details in the report or any indication any incident actually took place. In addition, the Cowboys were playing the Giants in the Meadowlands on Nov. 24, 2013 so Dez Bryant could not have even been at the home at the time of the neighborhood patrol.

My Thoughts
Based on this information, I don’t see anything disturbing that would cause off the field concern for the Dallas Cowboys or fan-fans when it comes to a financial commitment to Dez Bryant.

Here are my reasons why:
– The timeline. Rapoport says police came to Dez’s home six times between September, 2011 and November, 2013, a property that was owned at least part of that time by Senator West. But there is information to suggest he actually resided at another residence during at least part of that time, including an IRS document dated June 12, 2013 that identifies his address as 901 Longmeadow Lane, the property owned by Wells. And none of the incidents took place at this address. My hunch is that Dez lived in a different house (the one owned by David Wells) during the majority of that period, including at a minimum at the time of the June 2013 incident.

– The DeSoto police told me they had no records related to these incidents other than what they provided to me. Unless Ian Rapoport obtained different records, I don’t see how anyone could definitively attach Dez’s name to the police event reports with the exception of the harassment complaint on 9/4/11, in which I believe he was the victim. The DeSoto police have also confirmed that none of the calls to the police resulted in arrest or conviction.

– Even IF Dez was involved in each, so what? Has any of the above happened to you? If thrown into one paragraph together, the words “harassment, burglary, baby locked in car and stolen” would scare anyone. However, if you look at the details of each one separately, as well as the extended period of time over which they took place, is it that crazy from the rest of our lives?

When I initially read Rapoport’s story, I assumed Dez was at least partially responsible for each of these incidents. After I read about them in detail, it isn’t even clear he was involved in all of them, and in one event it appears he may have been the victim, not the perpetrator.

– Rapoport says police have been to Bryant’s home six times in four years. I’m not going to pretend that’s a positive, but the last noted incident took place in November of last year under the category of “neighborhood patrol” when Dez was in New Jersey helping the Cowboys defeat the Giants. What’s the expiration date for holding this over Bryant’s head? Are the last two years of maturity flushed because of these police incident reports that we don’t even know had anything to do with Dez?

The Cowboys probably know all of this and much more. I’m sure they have a team of private investigators that have untold stories on every player on the roster, especially #88. If there are other disturbing allegations we don’t know about, I get the hesitation. Maybe they just want Bryant to disassociate from other friends and family that find trouble. I don’t know.

As for the NFL Network report, my belief is that Ian Rapoport
A) Has more detailed information than I was able to acquire (He is a professional reporter and i’m just a talk show host)
OR…….
B) Was too vague in his reporting of Dez’s actual residence, involvement and timeline of events.

According to a DallasCowboys.com report, Jerry Jones made a statement Tuesday night in which he said:
“What we want to do is have an agreement for the rest of Dez’s career. So that’s what we want,” he said. “To me that says a lot about the concern about off-the-field concern if we want him on the Dallas Cowboys for the rest of his career.”
If they don’t want to pay Dez because he’s not Calvin Johnson, that’s one thing. But based on THIS information and Jerry’s latest statement, I believe this is an issue of dollars, not distractions.
To quote Teddy KGB: “Pay that man his money.”

 

[1bigfan13]

Latest report on Dez Bryant off-field issues could be much ado about nothing

Posted by Mike Florio on November 13, 2014, 9:27 PM EST

Getty Images​

On Sunday, one week after news broke that Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant hired a new agent to the chagrin of owner Jerry Jones, the media company partially owned by Jones reported that DeSoto, Texas police had visited Dez Bryant’s house six times.

“All of these things give the Cowboys cause for concern,” Ian Rapoport of NFL Media proclaimed.

In response to this report, Shan Shariff of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas-Fort Worth personally investigated the situation. For starters, there’s a question as to whether Bryant even lived at the house police visited on each of the six occasions. Next, Shariff found five incidents, not six.

Ultimately, the question becomes whether the five incidents, taken alone or together, should cause real concern for the Cowboys about Bryant. Based on the information obtained by Shariff, it’s clear that each of the issues was a non-issue.

First, an incident of “harassment” occurred on September 4, 2011. Specifically, someone was calling or texting someone else who eventually made good on a vow to call police if the calls or texts didn’t stop. It’s possible Bryant was the person who called the police. Either way, it’s not a big deal.

Second, the fire department was called on September 16, 2011 because a baby was inside a locked car, with the keys inside the car. The report names no names.
Third, a report was made of a stolen vehicle on August 17, 2012. There’s no record of who made the call to police.

Fourth, on June 2, 2012, a burglary at the residence was reported. No mention was made of Dez Bryant.

Fifth, a reference to a “neighborhood patrol” appears on November 24, 2013. There are no details and no indication of any incident taking place. That same day, the Cowboys played the Giants at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, so it’s possible Bryant wasn’t even around.

None of these calls resulted in an arrest or a conviction, of Dez Bryant or anyone. And yet somehow this has been characterized by the media company partially owned by the Cowboys as a negative reflection against Bryant.

“This is a genuine concern,” Rapoport said. “The Cowboys, I am told by multiple sources involved in the situation, do not trust Dez Bryant off the field. They feared — and they have feared for a while — that it will all blow up in his face, that a variety of small incidents will all come back to haunt him.”

He may be right, but the small incidents listed above shouldn’t give anyone concern. While it’s possible there’s other stuff no one knows about, these five incidents don’t reveal much.

The circumstantial evidence suggests that the Cowboys could be trying to squeeze Bryant into taking an offer he isn’t inclined to accept, while at the same time putting a cloud over his marketability elswhere. Bryant, who has shown a high degree of maturity and savvy when faced with the efforts of owner Jerry Jones to persuade Bryant to commit to a 10-year contract that binds the player but not the team, eventually will realize what’s going on.

If/when he does, here’s hoping he tells the Cowboys, “Go ahead and use the franchise tag in 2015 and 2016. I’ll accept the injury risk, pocket $25 million for two years, and force my way to the market in 2017.”

 

[1bigfan13]

Anyone else find it extremely hypocritical of the Cowboys to be concerned about Dez's off field behavior when the idiot owner is in the news 5 times as much for scandalous behavior and sexual assault accusations.

All Dez and his agent(s) have to do is walk into the negotiating room armed with all the details and negative reports that Jerry Jones has gotten himself into and that should be the end of that "he'll implode if we pay him" nonsense.

Regarding those 6 police visits to his residence, as you can see it's a whole lot of nothing.

I didn't realize calling to report that you've been burglarized is somehow a character flaw and a red flag that indicates your immaturity. Grow up, Dez!

 

[ravidubey]

It's this simple: Dez's lifestyle drew trouble to him. The question is does it or will it continue to do so?

 

[L.T. Fan]

It's this simple: Dez's lifestyle drew trouble to him. The question is does it or will it continue to do so?

I wouldn't call it a lifestyle as much as I would classify it an environment.

 

[townsend]

Dez hasn't like, broken the law. This seems more like posturing, and frankly after all the unearned contracts we've handed to Miles Austin, Marion Barber, Terence Newman and Jay effing Ratliff. It's preposterous to not treat Dez like the 2nd or 3rd most important player on this team. The only guys of this era who have put up numbers reliably like Dez have been Ware, Romo, and Witten. He deserves to be treated like one of them.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

after all the unearned contracts we've handed to Miles Austin, Marion Barber, Terence Newman and Jay effing Ratliff. It's preposterous to not treat Dez like the 2nd or 3rd most important player on this team.

I agree that I think this is just posturing to try and get the best contract for the team possible. I will say this though, we shouldn't let past mistakes in contract negotiations force us to continue to make mistake in contract negotiations. The fact that we aren't just rushing out to hand out a mega contract in my opinion is a good thing. Maybe this isn't the same Dallas that rushed out and gave huge mistake contracts to guys in the past.

 

[1bigfan13]

Dez hasn't like, broken the law. This seems more like posturing, and frankly after all the unearned contracts we've handed to Miles Austin, Marion Barber, Terence Newman and Jay effing Ratliff. It's preposterous to not treat Dez like the 2nd or 3rd most important player on this team. The only guys of this era who have put up numbers reliably like Dez have been Ware, Romo, and Witten. He deserves to be treated like one of them.

I completely agree.

He's young too with his best years ahead of him. It's a no-brainer, IMO.

 

[1bigfan13]

The fact that we aren't just rushing out to hand out a mega contract in my opinion is a good thing. Maybe this isn't the same Dallas that rushed out and gave huge mistake contracts to guys in the past.

I partially agree but Dez is a different animal compared to contracts handed out to guys like Roy Williams, Terence Newman, Miles Austin, and Jay Ratliff.

As I mentioned in my earlier post, Dez hasn't hit his prime yet. He's probably a year or two away from his prime.

Also, he's been very reliable and available over the past few years. He produces and you can count on him being in the lineup, unlike those other guys.

So I don't think you need to hesitate to pay a guy like Dez. If he were in and out of the line up like Sean Lee or a one year wonder like Miles Austin then I'd take a tough stance on the contract.