Greg Hardy Reminded Everyone That He's A Psycho, While The Cowboys Continue To Excuse Him
By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)
BOSTON (CBS) -- Greg Hardy's volatile behavior is beginning to spill over on the field, and splash onto his own team.
Sunday's Week 7 action featured several highly entertaining games and had a chance to escape without controversy, but Hardy undid all of that potential with his series of sideline tirades during the Dallas Cowboys' 27-20 loss to the New York Giants. Hardy was apparently upset that the Cowboys' kick coverage unit gave up a back-breaking kickoff return touchdown to the Giants' Dwayne Harris, and let Cowboys special teams coach Rich Bisaccia know when he invaded the huddle and got into a shoving match with the coach.
You can see the altercation in the video above, but if the clip doesn't work you can see it at Deadspin.
That outburst preceded a sideline confrontation between Hardy and the injured Dez Bryant, who was apparently trying to help calm Hardy down. So, yeah that didn't work.
Of course, Jerry Jones remains tone-deaf on the whole situation, saying of Hardy after the game: "He's, of course, one of the real leaders on this team and he earns it and he earns it with respect from all of his teammates and that's the kind of thing that inspires a football team."
Bisaccia stayed in line with the Cowboys' awkward excusing away of Hardy's actions, saying "[Hardy] wanted to get in there and kind of get after some of the guys a little bit, maybe get them fired up," Bisaccia said, via the Dallas Morning News. "It was just not the right time. It's really not an issue. I just had to communicate what we were going to do next on the return, so I just really wanted him to move on so we could get going."
The Dallas Morning News recap of the incidents contains that quote, plus several others from the Cowboys coaching staff.
Still have to respect Bisaccia for getting in Hardy's face and shoving him back during their confrontation. It goes without saying that there's no excuse for a defensive player acting like that toward the special teams unit. Or anyone, for that matter.
And obviously, Hardy was his usual self when "answering" questions from reporters, responding to everything with some variation of "No comment. Next question."
Hardy's behavior off the field has reached psychotic levels in the past, and now there's on-field evidence that he is not a mentally stable man. If the Cowboys defense continues to falter and the team is circling the drain come December, Hardy will likely take his share of the blame for disrupting that locker room.
Not that Jerry Jones would admit it.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
