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Josh Brent's appearance on the sidelines during the Steelers game caused a stir. People had all kinds of reactions to it and it caused heated debate. I'm not really going to pick a side because I fall somewhere in the middle. On one hand, I think the Cowboys were just trying to support an emotionally beat up teammate, trying to get him through the worst time of his life. On the other hand, publicly displaying him in front of millions of people was a little insensitive to the seriousness of the crime of which he'll be accused. They had good intentions but it wasn't the best thought out idea.
The Cowboys brass claim they didn't know until game time, and reports are that Brent was reluctant to do it until pushed by a teammate. His leaving mid-game after receiving word about the issue his presence was causing shows me he understands. I doubt he would have been back this week. Regardless, the Cowboys and the NFL have made a decision to keep Brent from the sidelines.
The Cowboys and officials in the NFL's offices were unaware that Brent -- who is on the reserve/non-football injury list after being charged with intoxication manslaughter two weeks ago in the car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown -- would be on the sideline Sunday during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dallas. Both the team and the league agree that it was not appropriate, sources said.
In other news involving Brent, he appeared in court on Tuesday where his bond was lowered to $100,000 from $500,000. The judge also ordered him to not drive and not to drink; he has to wear a monitoring bracelet that will show if he has alcohol in his system. If he breaks these conditions, he'll end up back in jail.