What You Need To Know About The DEZstractions
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."
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