Dez Bryant couldn't be having a worse week than this one. Even though it's Friday, which is normally a good thing, it's not a Friday Bryant is going to remember.
After being kicked out of Dallas' upscale mall, NorthPark Center, former Dallas Cowboy Deion Sanders told ESPN Radio's Ben and Skin Show this morning he wants nothing more to do with the young wide receiver.
"I'm upset but not surprised whatsoever," Sanders told them. "He needs help. He needs help. I told the Cowboys from day one that he needs help. Matter of fact, they have a team in place to help him. But you cannot tell a grown man what to do."When the news reached Bryant, as you can imagine his reaction was less than cordial. "I wish Deion would come to me as a man and talk to me," Bryant told ESPN Dallas. "I've been reaching out to Deion. I've never done anything wrong to Deion or disrespected him. I've never lied to Deion."
Though Sanders stopped mentoring Bryant more than a few months ago, this news send "Prime Time" over the proverbial edge and forced him to cut ties with him completely.
"I don't have a problem with you lying to me. That's one thing," Sanders said on the air Friday morning. "But when you lie to yourself as a man, you have a serious problem and that's where this kid is. And I can't condone it. I really can't. It tarnishes everything else I'm trying to develop in these kids [in his youth program]. I can't allow you to poison other kids that I'm trying to mentor and take to another level."
When asked if he would reach out to Bryant or speak to him Sanders replied, "I haven't spoken to the kid. I have no desire to speak to the kid. In regards to me, I can forgive, but I can't forget. You can't tarnish the other things that I have going on and the other kids. It's sort of like I can't allow something to poison the fruit of many other kids. I can't do it, so I cut off those ties a long time ago."
This is just the latest hit to the Cowboys' wide receiver. A player who came in with a lot of baggage and speculation he would be a problem.
Though it doesn't seem like he's had any negative affect on the field, his off the field problems have been what most would call a public relations nightmare for Jerry Jones. A man who had a lot of faith in Bryant when he drafted him out of Oklahoma State in the 2010 NFL Draft.
There's no indication if the Cowboys will punish Bryant internally and there's been no comment from Jones himself. But that probably has more to do with him worrying about the lockout more than a player's conduct off the field.
However, Jones won't be able to ignore this for long. Whether or not it will affect Bryant's status with the team may not be seen for some time.
Follow Todd Kaufmann @T_Kaufmann and National Football Authority @NFAuthority on Twitter
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