Dez Byrant calls out coaches, players labeled “Garrett’s guys” after his release

If you had any notion that Dez Bryant was going to just move on to another team without some words for the Cowboys, well... okay I guess hardly any of us thought that would happen. Dez is talking to Jane Slater of the NFL Network and definitely is venting his feelings about what just took place. We’ll be cribbing quotes from Pro Football Talk who have transcribed much of the interview.

Bryant believes that it was Jerry on one side of the table, and a group of five or six on the other side of the table, and that Jerry gave in.

“Hey, I’m a direct guy. I only know one way to be. I wake up, sleep, breathe football,” Bryant said. “If somebody don’t like me, I would love to know that. I think you’re supposed to go about it that way, learn how to respect and work with somebody even if you don’t like that person. I did it. . . . I’m not here to bash anybody, but I’ve got to keep it real. I always kept it real. Jerry Jones, he loved me to death, and I loved him, too. I honestly did. I honestly believe in my heart this was a hard decision for him. When it’s five to six guys at a table against one guy, you’ve got to do it. Like Jerry told me in our meeting, he didn’t ask me to take a pay cut. He didn’t want that. That further lets me believe what I thought a long time ago.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to say it’s emotional. I’m not trying to call anybody out, but at the same time, this situation was very unfair to me. It was an unfair situation because if they did want to get rid of me, they could have told me that. They could have told me that, and I would have respected it. Just like I told Jerry in the meeting, I respect his decision.”

It’s hard to dissect all of that, it appears that he thinks some in the organization were being one way with him when they were talking to him, and another way when they were behind closed doors. While initially just placing the blame on some coaches and front office personnel, he moved on to blaming some of the players, among them a captain.

“I’ll say this right here: I believe that Garrett’s guys [worked against him]. I would say that,” Bryant said. “I believe that. I truly believe that. I won’t put no names out, but they know, and I want them to know on this air I know. I’ll shoot them a text message and let them know. Little do they know is they can wear that ‘C’ [for captain] all they want to, but in that locker room, they know who they run and they talk to. They know who they communicate with. Everybody know where the real love is at, and I’m not throwing anybody under the bus, but that’s the difference between me and them.”

As noted by Charean Williams in the PFT article, the captains were Jason Witten, Dak Prescott, Dan Bailey, Tyrone Crawford, Sean Lee and the recently released Orlando Scandrick.

Dez went on to say it’s personal, that he wants to get his body in shape and perform at the highest level. He’d like to stay in the division and play the Cowboys twice a year.