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Over the weekend, Dez Bryant dazzled at Cowboys camp, not only making incredible catches that wowed the fans and players watching but showing an incredible work ethic.

That should've been the story on Monday for America's Team. That alone should have been the talking point on SportsCenter, talk radio, and among NFL fans:

"Wow. Did you see Dez Bryant? Let's talk about the Cowboys in 2010. Do they have a chance to get to the Super Bowl and possibly win the big game in their own house this season?"

Instead, you had everyone picking sides between two wide receivers on the same team.

Dez Bryant refused to do what most, if not all, rookies have to do when they first join a team. He refused to carry Roy Williams' pads Monday morning. By the afternoon, everyone was talking about it and in the evening, Williams had to talk to the press and dissolve the issue. But just by saying that it was "no big deal," doesn't mean it goes away.
Now, there have a been a lot of people that have come out on both sides of the issue. There are those that think that Roy Williams has been such a monumental dissapointment that, even as a veteran, he shouldn't be asking ANYONE to carry his pads and maybe should be carrying other people's pads himself since it seems like the whole team has carried him to success since he moved to Dallas. On the other hand, there are some that feel that Bryant has yet to accomplish anything in the NFL and should show some humility and help team chemistry by just doing what so many other rookies are expected to do.

Instead, he came out defiant, saying, "I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."

The problem isn't that he refused to carry the pads. The problem is that he let it become a story.

One of the reasons that I accurately picked the Cowboys to play well in the regular season, make the playoffs, and end their playoff win drought last year is that the dynamic of the team changed.
When Pacman Jones and Terrell Owens were with the team, there was as much attentioned paid to the Cowboys off the field as on the field, so Jerry Jones stopped buying top-dollar veteran free agents and started building from the ground-up. Veterans were brought in for leadership to guide the draft picks that have carried the team. Last year was the first year the formula succeeded and this year it should work again and maybe take them all the way.

The only thing that could throw that off is if there's inner turmoil among the guys that are supposed to grow and gel together and that's what we had on Monday with Roy Williams and Dez Bryant.

Dez Bryant appears to be more mature than he was in college, but now he's got some more exposure to the national media and should know that when you pull a stunt like this in practice with the Dallas Cowboys, it's not the same as doing it with the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Honesty isn't always the best policy. Everybody lies in sports, and this would have been the perfect time for a little white lie. Much like the Dave Chappelle Show skit, this was one of those times when keeping it real goes wrong.
Dez, we abo ely can't argue with anything you said when you defended yourself about not carrying another player's pads. But instead of keeping it real, you could've avoided all kinds of attention with just about any other answer.

"Oh, that was just a misunderstanding in the locker room. I was on my way out and didn't realize what was going on. I'll probably have to pay for that later. haha!"

With that, you're a non-story. But now, everyone is talking about how they feel about rookie "hazing" and if it's outdated or if what you're doing is a sign of disrespect. You also open the door for a ton of comments harking back to this incident if you have a bad game or if Roy Williams has a (highly unlikely) breakout season.

So learn from this, Mr. Bryant. In the coming weeks, we'll be hearing a lot about who could win it all this year. There are a lot of talented teams out there, but one of the things that separates pretenders from contenders is team chemistry and the ability to work through adversity. And when stories like this get out, the scrutiny on the team increases and rifts can be exposed off the field.

And that's not what this team can be about if you want to win a championship.

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