Dez Bryant’s Slippery Slope

Dez Bryant’s Slippery Slope

If you watched anything related to the NFL in the last 4 weeks I am sure you have heard the name Dez Bryant.  Bryant has been media gold, providing plenty of topics for debate.  Most of the discussion surrounding Bryant has been surrounding off the field events.  I believe Bryant is starting down a very slippery slope.

The media blitz started when Dez Bryant was suspended for having an improper relationship with Deion Sanders.  Then during the draft process it was revealed that Bryant was late for practices and several games.  It didn’t end there as teams reported that he forgot his cleats for team workouts.  Then news started to spread that Bryant was being removed from team’s draft boards because of several character concerns.

Now the latest story where Dolphins General Managers Jeff Ireland asked Bryant if his mother was a prostitute.  And the newest development that Bryant in fact stated that his father was a pimp and his mother worked for him.  Bryant has denied that he made that statement but at this point the story has made its impact.  Dez Bryant needs to be careful because while media attention can be good, it also could be the downfall of a career.

Whether he likes it or not he has earned a spotlight and everything he does will garner attention.  I think Bryant is setting himself up for a major fall.  It has been heavily discussed that Bryant is immature and this could lead to a negative situation.  He is going to need to handle the good attention with the bad and know how to react.  You can count on the media heavily covering any Bryant struggles; will he be able to handle controversy?  Controversy is hard for all rookies to handle and its magnified by the media.

In my opinion players that are always in the media have a tendency to derail a team’s chemistry.  Terrell Owens and Brandon Marshall are the first two that come to mind.  Owens has had several situations where his constant media attention has magnified situations leading to on the field problems.  I am sure we all remember the highlights of Brandon Marshall punting balls in practice which lead to his suspension during the preseason.  I hope Bryant is aware of these situations and can find away to step out of the media spotlight or he could find himself in a play altering situation.