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Yeah, blowing off court and getting a warrant was probably not ok with the team.
Cowboys cut Lucky Whitehead after reported arrest
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At long last Jason Garrett and the Cowboys send a message
8:30 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- This time, Jason Garrett had to do something.
How often can you talk about having the right kind of guys on the roster and accountability and not actually do anything to those who seem to violate the message the Dallas Cowboys coach preaches?
Unfortunately for Lucky Whitehead, he was the next one up and he was expendable.
When reports came out Whitehead was arrested in Virginia last month for shoplifting and failed to show at a hearing, leading to a warrant for his arrest, the Cowboys were clueless. Whitehead had never told them. Whitehead's defense is that it is a case of mistaken identity, but the Cowboys did not care or wait to see if it were actually true.
They just cut Whitehead.
Of course, Garrett might have been better served to have cut Whitehead last December when the wide receiver/kick returner was late to a Saturday walk-through and told to stay home when the team flew to New Jersey to take on the Giants.
Instead, Whitehead apologized to the coach and to the team and remained. This time, the Cowboys had enough. There was a car accident last season that Garrett did not know about when he addressed the media. There was a strange story the week before camp started about the kidnapping of Whitehead's dog and a ransom.
Releasing Whitehead at this time is an easy move. First, he's not exactly irreplaceable. The Cowboys drafted Ryan Switzer in the fourth round to be the team's punt returner. Second, he's not Ezekiel Elliott, Damien Wilson, Nolan Carroll, David Irving or Jourdan Lewis, players who have had legal or league issues. Dez Bryant was late on reporting day last week. Irving did not show at all.
It has led to the perception that the Cowboys are a team run amok as training camp begins.
This should not come as a surprise, but standards change based on productivity. Jimmy Johnson didn't cut Michael Irvin when the receiver had his issues, but he did cut John Roper for falling asleep in a special teams meeting.
Garrett loves to tell a story about "17 inches." He told it to a room full of high school coaches last week at The Star. In 1996, John Scolinos, a long-time baseball coach at Cal Poly Pomona, gave a speech that home plate is 17 inches wide at every level of play and the expectations for players should not change either.
Scolinos gave the speech while wearing a home plate around his neck.
Garrett doesn't wear a home plate around his neck, but his re-telling of the story over and over, even as the issues have piled up, leads many to wonder if "17 inches" is just a story or actually means something.
The Cowboys didn't cut Whitehead last year. They didn't cut Rolando McClain last year after he failed another drug test, leading to a suspension. They haven't gotten rid of Randy Gregory, who is suspended for the season.
Is it because Garrett loathes confrontation or is it that he doesn't have the power to do something bold because of Jerry Jones' influence? Both?
Executive vice president Stephen Jones said the decision to cut Whitehead was not meant to send a message to the players, but some players took it that way, including Bryant.
Garrett might have helped himself by making decisions to move on from Whitehead and others sooner, but at least this is a start.
8:30 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
OXNARD, Calif. -- This time, Jason Garrett had to do something.
How often can you talk about having the right kind of guys on the roster and accountability and not actually do anything to those who seem to violate the message the Dallas Cowboys coach preaches?
Unfortunately for Lucky Whitehead, he was the next one up and he was expendable.
When reports came out Whitehead was arrested in Virginia last month for shoplifting and failed to show at a hearing, leading to a warrant for his arrest, the Cowboys were clueless. Whitehead had never told them. Whitehead's defense is that it is a case of mistaken identity, but the Cowboys did not care or wait to see if it were actually true.
They just cut Whitehead.
Of course, Garrett might have been better served to have cut Whitehead last December when the wide receiver/kick returner was late to a Saturday walk-through and told to stay home when the team flew to New Jersey to take on the Giants.
Instead, Whitehead apologized to the coach and to the team and remained. This time, the Cowboys had enough. There was a car accident last season that Garrett did not know about when he addressed the media. There was a strange story the week before camp started about the kidnapping of Whitehead's dog and a ransom.
Releasing Whitehead at this time is an easy move. First, he's not exactly irreplaceable. The Cowboys drafted Ryan Switzer in the fourth round to be the team's punt returner. Second, he's not Ezekiel Elliott, Damien Wilson, Nolan Carroll, David Irving or Jourdan Lewis, players who have had legal or league issues. Dez Bryant was late on reporting day last week. Irving did not show at all.
It has led to the perception that the Cowboys are a team run amok as training camp begins.
This should not come as a surprise, but standards change based on productivity. Jimmy Johnson didn't cut Michael Irvin when the receiver had his issues, but he did cut John Roper for falling asleep in a special teams meeting.
Garrett loves to tell a story about "17 inches." He told it to a room full of high school coaches last week at The Star. In 1996, John Scolinos, a long-time baseball coach at Cal Poly Pomona, gave a speech that home plate is 17 inches wide at every level of play and the expectations for players should not change either.
Scolinos gave the speech while wearing a home plate around his neck.
Garrett doesn't wear a home plate around his neck, but his re-telling of the story over and over, even as the issues have piled up, leads many to wonder if "17 inches" is just a story or actually means something.
The Cowboys didn't cut Whitehead last year. They didn't cut Rolando McClain last year after he failed another drug test, leading to a suspension. They haven't gotten rid of Randy Gregory, who is suspended for the season.
Is it because Garrett loathes confrontation or is it that he doesn't have the power to do something bold because of Jerry Jones' influence? Both?
Executive vice president Stephen Jones said the decision to cut Whitehead was not meant to send a message to the players, but some players took it that way, including Bryant.
Garrett might have helped himself by making decisions to move on from Whitehead and others sooner, but at least this is a start.
jsmith6919
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Don't care. He is still a bum who was in the way.If true
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Holy shit.
Not that it matters. Sounds like he would have been gone anyway because of other stuff. Still funny as hell, though.
NoDak
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Not really. All his past fuck ups were cited when he was cut. Besides, I doubt the charge was the reason he was cut. The fact he didn't say anything to the team about it and left them blind was the final straw.
jsmith6919
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bbgun
please don't "dur" me
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and yet all those fuckups didn't get him canned. why cut him now based on a false allegation? how could he tell the team if he was never arrested and didn't know he was a wanted man?
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I doubt it. Not after all of the bad stuff they said about him. Would be a little awkward.
jsmith6919
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jsmith6919
Honored Member - RIP
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NoDak
Hotlinking' sonofabitch
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Again. It was him NOT letting the team know what was going on, which left them in the dark and subject to scrutiny once it came out. I'm sure he knew he had a court date coming up, considering every court I've ever known will send you written notice of the charge, and of your court date. I'd bet he figured it would just go away, considering it wasn't actually him that was arrested. Also, you can be sure it was probably one of his boys that was arrested, since he knew his social security number and birth date. It's pretty obvious that Whitehead knew about this. If he had gone to the courthouse to clear it up by proving it wasn't him that was arrested, it probably would have went away. But no... That would have been the smart thing to do. You're trying way too hard to look for stuff to cry about in regards to Garrett and the team. This isn't it.