For Cowboys fans struggling with supporting the team and also supporting Greg Hardy, a Hall of Fame quarterback has provided an alternative: Support the team, don’t support Hardy.
“I’m rooting for the Cowboys, I don’t root for him,” Roger Staubach told USA Today. “I’m still rooting for the Cowboys. I’m not a Hardy fan.”
Obviously, Staubach isn’t a Hardy fan because of the alleged domestic violence incident that resulted in a 10-game suspension that was reduced to four.
“We know what he did,” Staubach said. “I’ve got a wife and four daughters and I’ve got 12 granddaughters. I would go ballistic if anybody touched any of our daughters or granddaughters in a harmful way. I’m not that forgiving for anybody that commits domestic violence.”
Staubach also is concerned that Hardy eventually will be involved in another alleged domestic violence incident.
“It just seems like that particular problem, unless you really get a lot of help, you just don’t overcome it,” Staubach said. “You’ve got to get help. It’s not just, ‘Hey, I did this, it won’t happen again.’ It happens again. . . . It’s a worrisome deal when someone hits a woman. Hopefully that someone is getting help to never do it again.”
Staubach also refuses to separate Hardy’s actions off the field with his recent on-field confrontation with special-teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.
“It just seems like the incident on the field, knocking the clipboard out of the coach’s hand, you can talk about passion, but you also have to talk about common sense on the field,” Staubach said of Hardy. “He is still a mixed bag as far as if he is really sincere about the past, making sure it never happens again.”
Although the Cowboys blindly have defended Hardy throughout his various incidents, there was a weariness in owner Jerry Jones’ voice when he was talking about the situation after Sunday night’s loss to the Eagles. Part of that may have been the product of a six-game losing streak. Part of it may have been that Jones is starting to realize that no amount of polish is going to make Hardy into something other than what he is.