The best look yet of Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy’s late-game tirade came during the post-game of NBC’s contest between the Eagles and Panthers.
The video shows Hardy, who was upset that the kick-coverage unit had given up a 100-yard touchdown return to former Cowboys receiver Dwayne Harris, entering the special-teams huddle in advance of the ensuing kickoff return and confronting special-teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.
After Bisaccia tries to get Hardy to leave so that the kick-return unit can prepare to do its job, Hardy swings at a clipboard Bisaccia is holding, and Hardy eventually shoves the coach. That’s when others intervene, pulling Hardy away. He calms down for a bit, but he then starts swinging his arms for a couple of seconds before coming off the field.
Receiver Dez Bryant eventually tries to assist in the effort to calm Hardy down, an exchange that produced the images that were broadcast during the game by FOX. The rest of it was not seen during the game, and the footage shown during the NBC post-game show strongly suggests that Hardy crossed a line in his interactions with a member of the coaching staff.
Still, Bisaccia (like everyone else connected to the team) downplayed Hardy’s behavior.
"[H]e wanted to get in there and kind of get after some of the guys a little bit, maybe get them fired up,” Bisaccia said, via the Dallas Morning News. “It was just not the right time. It’s really not an issue. I just had to communicate what we were going to do next on the return, so I just really wanted him to move on so we could get going.”
Bisaccia also denied that he was pushed by Hardy. The video suggests otherwise.
The head coach, Jason Garrett, echoed the notion that it was no big deal.
“I was standing right there,” Garrett said. “I don’t think that’s an issue at all. When that happens, you encourage guys, you get guys excited, you try to get guys ready for the next challenge. I believe from my vantage point that’s what he was doing. You have to have passion.”
It’s unclear whether Garrett’s vantage point allowed him to see Hardy confronting and shoving Bisaccia. And it’s hard to imagine Garrett being OK with Hardy’s conduct, based on the video televised during the NBC post-game show.