He Ain't A Man; He Ain't 40

Bryant comes with a caveat emptor tag
By Jason Cole/Yahoo Sports

Three sources with direct knowledge of Bryant from his days in college, where he missed the final 10 games last season because of lying to NCAA investigators, said Bryant’s antics were “consistently irresponsible.”

Bryant is expected to be a first-round pick in April. Some draftniks have predicted that he will go in the top 10, although the consensus appears to be the top 15. Whoever takes him does so at their own peril.

“I wouldn’t draft that kid unless I had someone to wake him up in the morning to get to meetings, someone to wake him up for practice and someone to wake him up for games,” one source said.

A second source said Bryant’s reputation was earned because he was consistently late to team activities. That included showing up late for games.

“We’re not just talking about being a little late for warmups, but like being late for the actual game,” a source said with a chuckle. “When you start to hear some of the stories of there, you go, ‘He did what?’ ”

Bryant recently defended himself against questions about his past by claiming he is a “great person” in an interview with NFL Network. While that may be a stretch, his episodes of irresponsible behavior aren’t considered malicious.

“Dez isn’t evil, he’s not trying to hurt anybody. He’s just goofy,” another source said. “But it does make you think, ‘If he’s like this in college, what’s it going to be like when he gets paid?’ ”

The NCAA investigation of Bryant initially revolved around illicit benefits Bryant received while in college. Among the items the NCAA examined were cell phones Bryant had for himself and his girlfriend that were being paid for by another party, although Bryant claimed he paid cash to the other person.

The investigation eventually led to a 10-game ban by Oklahoma State when Bryant lied to NCAA investigators about his interactions with former NFL star and current NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders.

I don't want to say Dez Bryant is immature and reliant on others but I once saw Bobby Reid's mom feeding him chicken in a parking lot. Boom! I imagine Coach Mike Gundy can't be happy about this situation. He kept whatever issues Bryant had pretty well under the radar but protecting his players from media scrutiny seems to be his modus operandi.

I honestly thought Dez' visit to Prime Time's house was an overhyped red flag. Most players wouldn't pass up the opportunity. But maybe most players would have asked their Coach or AD or Football Ops guy about it first. And in a day and age where combine interviews and Wonderlic Test scores are scrutinized much more than ever, pro scouts are going to want to make sure Dez Bryant has a good head on his shoulders. Unless Matt Millen was drafting. Then he'd be a no brainer. But maybe we should focus on the good things Bryant did in college and not downgrade him. I can remember someone saying something once about not downgrading good kids.