Photo Courtesy: Parker Anderson
By Lew Patton
There used to be a time in Cowboys’ history when they won Super Bowls AND had a great group of gentlemen and athletes. They used to give their chinstraps away to kids as they left the field at Texas Stadium. The Boy and Girl Scouts looked up to them as leaders, role models, and just all-around good guys.
The Cowboys aren’t those Cowboys anymore.
Letting players kill other team mates and then letting them back on the team has been noted for some time. Now, the Cowboys have outdone even that. They have signed Greg Hardy to play this year at Jerry World. How many games? Will he be suspended for slamming his girlfriend on a couch with several loaded rifles? That remains to be seen. But here are some interesting facts about the contract that Hardy signed with the Cowboys.
To Wit:
It’s a one-year contract, which carries a salary of $750,000. He can earn up to a total of $13.1 million (which was his base salary as Carolina’s franchise player in 2014 through a series of per-game roster bonuses, incentives, and a large workout bonus.
Specifically, Hardy can earn a workout bonus of $1.3116 million, a whopping $9.25 million in per-game roster bonuses, and $1.8044 million in incentives based on sacks.
The Cowboys chose to keep the base salary as low as possible in the event that another incident or accusation against Hardy puts him back on the Commissioner’s-Exempt list for all or part of the 2015 season. The thinking is that the Cowboys would only owe him game checks and not per-game roster bonuses if he’s suspended with pay.
At last check, the league had not resolved the question of whether a player would be entitled to per-game roster bonuses and other items of compensation tied to playing in games while on the Commissioner’s-Exempt list. Neither the NFL nor NFLPA have agreed that a player on the Commissioner’s-Exempt list gets salary only or the Cowboys are preparing for that eventuality.
It’s also possible that the contract contains specific language in which Hardy waives his right to anything except base salary, if placed on the Commissioner’s-Exempt list. If the NFL and NFLPA have yet to resolve that question, it’s presumably a topic that player and team could negotiate on their own.
Here is an excerpt from a protective order filed by Hardy’s ex-girlfriend:
“On May 13, 2014, Greg Hardy attacked me in his apartment. Hardy picked me up and threw me into the tile tub area in his bathroom. I have bruises from head to toe, including my head, neck, back, shoulders arms, legs, elbow and feet. Hardy pulled me from the tub by my hair, screaming at me that he was going to kill me, break my arms and other threats that I completely believe. He drug me across the bathroom and out into the bedroom. Hardy choked me with both hands around my throat while I was lying on the floor. Hardy picked me up over his head and threw me onto a couch covered in assault rifles and/or shotguns. I landed on those weapons. Hardy bragged that all of those assault rifles were loaded.”
So, the bottom line is Jerry has done it again. Hired a player that has no morals, and doesn’t care if the player beat up women, killed other team mates, or whatever. Jerry just wants to win baby.
I’m pretty sick of the Cowboys and their criminal element. Even if they play.
