A $54,000 Team Building Seminar

During NFL summer training camps, Dallas Cowboy rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant made headlines by refusing to carry his teammates' pads when ordered to by veteran Roy Williams. This type of rookie hazing is typical in NFL training camps, but Bryant's insolence was certainly uncommon.

Bryant is an extremely talented first round pick who lit up the Big 12 Conference during his days as an Oklahoma State Cowboy (he was suspended his last season for lying to the NCAA during an investigation). This talent level gave him the sense of entitlement that he was above carrying his teammates’ pads. Unfortunately, he missed the entire point of that exercise. Rookie hazing in the NFL is typically harmless treatment meant to humble newcomers just a bit. The lesson is that no one player, no matter how hyped, is bigger than the team.

However, there was also a second lesson to be learned. Rookies should not mess with cagey NFL veterans. For all the disappointment that he has provided on the field during his career, Williams (a former first round pick in his own right) proved that he has a top level answer off it. Most of the Cowboys went out to dinner at an expensive steakhouse during the bye week. Towards the end of the meal, when Bryant left to go to the bathroom, the rest of the team dashed and left him with the total bill – a measly sum close to $55,000.

Author’s tangent: An NFL roster is 53 players. Even if every player on the roster was present, that still works out to over $1000 per player. How can you run up a bill that large? The most expensive restaurant I have ever dined at is Emeril’s at a resort, and even splurging there makes it difficult to rack up more than $100 per diner. There were reports of players taking 2-3 bottles of wine to go, but that still seems like an impossible tab to me.

2nd Author’s tangent: I have heard some complaints that the Cowboy spending spree is insensitive and callous during poor economic times. This is a ridiculous argument. Has anyone stopped to think about the financial condition or restaurants like this steakhouse? With luxury dining struggling mightily for the past two years, this spree may allow that business owner to keep employees and stay in business longer than he might have otherwise. This nation’s economy only works when those who can afford to are splurging.

Ultimately, Bryant handled the situation and paid the bill – apparently with a nod to the veterans for having put one over on him. Hopefully he has now learned that the team will not stand for one individual who cannot get over himself. If so, this was one of the most expensive team building seminars in history. God only knows what they would have done to him if he had tried to weasel out of this one (framed him for murder?). All the same, I would make a strong guess that he is wishing he had just carried the damn pads.

- Felix Chesterfield

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