Former Oakland Raiders Great Tim Brown Critical of the Dallas Cowboys After Greg Hardy Signing

One thing that fans tend to forget sometimes is that they are not the only ones that are fans. Players will always pull for their former team, but they grew up watching one team just like the fans. Sometimes it happens to be the team they make their careers with, but that is often not the case.

So when Tim Brown speaks out against the Dallas Cowboys signing defensive lineman Greg Hardy it is not as a former opponent, but as a fan that grew up watching the team.

via Twitter

Like many fans, Brown is not real fond of the Cowboys recent free agent pick up.

"No doubt that this is not the Dallas Cowboys team we grew up with," he said in a one-on-one interview with News 8.

Greg Hardy recently signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys worth potentially up to $13 million. His base is just the minimum for a five-year player at $745,000, but it includes $1.3 million in workout bonuses throughout the off-season and $9.25 million in roster bonuses. What that means is that as long as he is on the roster--it doesn't matter if he plays--he makes another $578,125 a game.

Fans like Brown are taking issue with it not just because it makes it pretty hard for the Cowboys to sign Adrian Peterson should a trade develop, but because of Hardy's track record. He missed last season because he was on trial for beating an ex-girlfriend. Hardy was tried and convicted of the charge, but when the victim refused to cooperate during the appeal (and after agreeing to a settlement with Hardy) the charges were dropped.

Brown's take on why signing Hardy is okay says exactly what fans are thinking:

"What these NFL teams are saying is we are not going to tolerate this unless you are a great player," Brown said.

Sadly, Brown is 100 percent correct. Teams will forgive just about anything if the player is someone they believe will help the team win games. Fans often end up forgiving and/or forgetting as well should the player end up contributing. Such was the case with Ray Lewis and Michael Vick.

The Cowboys have already shown that they are willing to take on players with a history of questionable conduct and serious legal issues. Pacman Jones was far from being a saint before he joined the Cowboys and wasn't when he was with the team either. Last season they brought Josh Brent back after he completed his suspension for killing his teammate and friend Jerry Brown while driving drunk.

Brown is not delusional and is fully aware that domestic violence was as much of an issue back in his day as well. What he doesn't like to see now is how blatant guys are now.

"The things that the guys are getting involved in now are just so blatant," he said. "They really don't care. They say, 'I'm not going to worry about it because there will be no consequences to what I do.'"

He went on to compare the Cowboys of today to the Raiders of his day who was known for taking on players with checkered images and histories.

People deserve a second chance and Brown admits that, but while he says he saw some players that did change their ways he saw many who did not.

[WFAA]

Loading...