If anything Dez Bryant is loyal.
In this interview with ESPN he tries to explain why players like himself and Odell Beckham seem out of control, but if more players had their type of passion their teams would be better.
“Whenever something doesn’t go right, as far as a team loss, y’all don’t like his actions, and all it is, is just him wanting to win the game,” Bryant told ESPN after the NFC’s Pro Bowl practice Saturday. “If more people were like that on his team, maybe they would do something special.”
Bryant goes on to say that people nitpick certain players about every little thing and he doesn’t think that is right.
Including the infamous Miami Yacht trip.
On Monday, the team’s day off, a photo surfaced on social media of them and several teammates hanging out on a boat, shirtless. Many felt the trip suggested a lack of focus.
Bryant doesn’t see it that way. He also said Beckham’s emotions after a game, the way he outwardly expresses his dissatisfaction with losing, suggest one thing: “The heart of a champion,” Bryant said.
“Especially him, the type of success that you run into, there’s only one person able to understand it — and that’s him and that’s me,” Bryant said. “That’s because we’re the only people who get to see that. Nobody knows how to handle that type of stuff.”
“It’s probably a relationship that a lot of people wouldn’t be able to understand. Y’all like to criticize us for the little crazy things, but that’s why we have each other, to keep each other lifted and to keep each other going.”
While Bryant makes some valid points and is protective of his friend, he totally ignores the other side of things, which athletes do often.
They assume people want them to fail and it is them against the world, but that by in large isn’t true. Most people want to see them play to the best of their abilities, while not putting themselves in a position to be criticized.
While Beckham didn’t do anything wrong by hanging with Trey Songz, but he set himself up by putting it out there.
Like G.I. Joe taught me knowing is half the battle and when you know you have that spotlight on you, you have to think about how you want to navigate those waters (no pun intended).
When Odell and Dez start figuring that out, they won’t have to defend their actions as much, because there will be no actions to defend.
Flip the page for video of the Dez interview….