Hey, Dez, if you really want to play for the Dallas Cowboys you should do this first
Scroll through Dez Bryant’s Twitter account and it’s apparent he still has the itch to play football, and specifically for the Dallas Cowboys.
If Dez is serious about playing the game he professes to love so much, he can’t be above throwing up the X for the new team in town, the XFL’s Dallas Renegades.
At least via Twitter, Dez has already dismissed the idea.
This is about showing the Cowboys, and the other 31 NFL teams, that he can still play. Playing for the XFL is merely about game tape, and proving he has something left.
If he doesn’t know it, he’s in denial: Right now the NFL is done with Dez Bryant.
He has to prove it, and the best place to do that is not an Instagram post of him working out but playing in an actual football game. The XFL does not feature top-tier players, but as its opening weekend demonstrated it is a real football game featuring guys who are on the edge of NFL rosters.
The Dez Bryant timeline
His last NFL reception was a 7-yard catch on a pass from Dak Prescott in the Cowboys’ season-finale, 6-0 win against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philly on Dec. 31, 2017.
The Cowboys cut Dez in April in 2018. Then head coach Jason Garrett was fed up with Dez, and the noise that came with his top receiver.
In Dez’s last season with the Cowboys, he caught 69 passes for 838 yards and six touchdowns. Not terrible. Far from elite.
The Cowboys, specifically Garrett, simply thought he was no longer worth it. As the 2018 season progressed for the Cowboys, Dez Bryant remained their best receiver from his couch, which is why they traded a first-round pick for Amari Cooper.
The New Orleans Saints signed Dez on Nov. 7, 2018. Armed with quarterback Drew Brees and coach Sean Payton, this was an ideal spot for Bryant.
Only two days after signing with the Saints, Bryant suffered a ruptured Achilles’ during practice on a routine route.
Today, Dez Bryant is 31 and without an NFL job he clearly covets while the NFL does not covet him.
He has to know that. If he doesn’t, someone close to him needs to be real with him immediately.
The case for the XFL
It’s only one weekend, but the version of football the XFL promised under commissioner Oliver Luck is football with modest, and appealing, modifications.
Watching the Renegades’ first game on Sunday before just over 17,000 fans at The Old Texas Rangers Stadium against the St. Louis BattleHawks was not awful. Unlike some of the other XFL games played in Week 1, the game in Arlington happened to be a score snore.
Overall, the XFL game moves faster. The changes to the kickoffs are not only welcome but it would be a surprise if the NFL doesn’t enact what the XFL does here. The options for point-after attempts make for a more entertaining product.
The XFL is football, and not the WWE.
It’s a good product that I would certainly endorse taking a family to watch.
There is some NFL talent on these fields. Some of the players running around in XFL uniforms are going to receive extended looks, and invites to NFL camps, as a result of having played in this 10-game regular season schedule.
Dez Bryant’s resume says he has not been an NFL caliber receiver since the end of 2017. That’s a fact.
Another fact is that it’s not just Jason Garrett who showed limited to zero interest in Dez.
Also a fact is that Dez yearns to play in the NFL again, and has gone so far as to reach out to Dallas Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones for a look.
Mike McCarthy is in his first year as the head coach of the Cowboys, but he’s not in his first year as an NFL head coach. He’s not an idiot. He’s not going to look at a guy unless he thinks the guy can play.
The NFL is not DMing Dez because it does not think he can play. He has to prove it. And the best place is to do that is for the Dallas Renegades.
If he’s as good as he thinks, he will make some plays in the XFL, throw up the X a few times, and then kick back and wait for the DMs to pop.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
