Jerry Jones called Greg Hardy a "leader" during a press conference after Sunday's loss. He didn't back down on Tuesday when given a chance to clarify his comments.
Jones' comments on Sunday drew odd faces (literally) and his comments Tuesday on CBS affiliate 105.3 the Fan will probably generate more of the same.
"I don’t have any different view than I do Sunday. I would encourage … what you see on the sideline, I think everyone is aware of this. It does give you an unfettered and transparent aspect of what goes on with the team. You’ve got arguably 100 people down there, so you get to see it. What you don’t get is the audio part. I have probably the largest drawer of what I call is ‘sweet nothings,’ letters from fans and interested people.
"My largest drawer for almost 30 years has been comments about how the players are, or frankly how I’ve looked, on the sidelines. It’s funny how those expressions and kind of things are interpreted."
Apparently a lot of these were about Troy Aikman because he was so serious looking on the sidelines, which is pretty hilarious.
Less hilarious: Jones continuing to argue about what leadership means in the context of football (although the "on-field" idea does make some sense here I suppose).
"The leadership aspect comes in different ways. First of all, to really be a leader on a football team, talking the talk without walking the walk doesn’t happen," Jones said. "Real leaders are really outstanding football players. So they get it done and through that they earn a great deal of respect by their teammates. My view is totally through the eyes of within the team, what the team thinks. What they think of each other, how hard are they willing to support each other when you do get in this competitive times. It is the role of an individual.
"It is not not necessarily a guy who gives a Knute Rockne talk. It can be done through sheer ability on the field."
Jones praised Hardy's "effort" and "aggressiveness" again, which apparently translates to being a leader.
"His effort, his basic aggressiveness, which is an absolute must to play the game and play the position, has just absolutely been something if you have any knowledge or an appreciation for football, when he talks you listen," Jones said.
Jones doesn't appreciate people calling him an enabler either and noted he's been called that since the Cowboys signed Hardy.
"Well if signing, I would say they said that when I signed him. So you begin right there. We all know that the same ones who had the idea, and I really do understand completely their perspective, and they know, I don’t need to say it again, but in no way is anyone anything but against any type of domestic violence," Jones said. "The most comments I got on enabling was when we signed him. They said it looks like you’re basically condoning domestic violence, which is not the case."
The bottom line in all of this? None of this chatter is going away. It really isn't going to disappear if the Cowboys continue talking about their long-term plans with Hardy.
