Berry Tramel, Sports columnist
Berry Tramel: Time served should be enough for Dez Bryant
By Berry Tramel
Comments 
103
Published: October 20, 2009
Enough is enough. It’s time for a little mercy. Dez Bryant’s punishment is sufficient. Free Dez.
Photo from The Oklahoman Archive
STILLWATER — Dez Bryant is going nuts.
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The Oklahoma State flanker supreme puts on a good front. Slaps backs and leads cheers and tries to be happy for his still-flourishing teammates.
But Dez is hurting.
"I would say he’s not doing very good,” said Oklahoma State coach
Mike Gundy. "Any of us, one thing you love to do, take it away, doesn’t feel very good.”
Dez lied to the
NCAA and is paying a steep price. He’s missed three games and will keep missing games until the NCAA decrees otherwise.
Enough is enough. It’s time for a little mercy. Bryant’s punishment is sufficient. Free Dez.
Now, if there’s more to this case than just Dez lying to the NCAA, then all bets are off. If Dez ran afoul of rules by mingling with
Deion Sanders’ agent and/or reaping some bounty, then mercy can’t help Dez, and Deion should be branded a leper in the collegiate sports world.
But if Dez’s crime is that a scared kid lied to powerful people who held his future in their hands, his almost-month-long sentence is plenty.
NCAA documents seem to show that Dez three times misled NCAA investigators. Three lies, three games. Seems fair to me, especially considering those three games effectively ended what could have been a Heisman campaign, considering all the candidates who have fallen off track.
You know the general story of Bryant. Rough upbringing in
Lufkin,
Texas. Very little guidance. No home training.
That’s not an excuse for lying. But maybe it is an explanation.
We have a crisis of spirit in
America. Not so much an epidemic of bad kids as much as bad parenting.
Maybe Bryant sat in a room with NCAA investigators, wondered what kind of trouble he was in and panicked. Maybe no one ever taught him that truth will set you free and lying is like trying to dig yourself out of a hole.
Maybe Bryant has learned his lesson.
"The penalty has certainly ... worked,” Gundy said. "He understands he made a mistake. There’s no question he’s learned his lesson. That should help him later in life.”
I’m not an NCAA conspiracist. I think the NCAA tries to do right. I think NCAA rules are founded on solid rock.
But I also think NCAA procedures protect the powerful. The schools. The organization itself. Athletes aren’t always so empowered.
A good lawyer would have helped Dez. A good father would have helped more.
That’s why
OSU offensive coordinator
Gunter Brewer is glad Dez went to
Indianapolis last week, told his tale, fell on his sword and pleaded for mercy. "There has to be some leeway,” Brewer said.
Gundy is no doubt right that Dez learned a lesson, though he might be confused at the situational ethics.
OSU itself lied to the media about Dez’s status, referring to some injury, and there’s no consequences. Dez lied about his own actions, and his college career is in jeopardy. Not the first time college football has sent mixed signals to a ballplayer.
So now Dez waits. Gundy asked an OSU compliance officer Monday if there is any indication that the NCAA might let the Cowboys know if or when a decision is rendered, regardless of what that decision might be.
No, was the answer.
"There’s nothing we can do,” Gundy said. "Just wait it out. It’s wearing on him.”
Hubert Anyiam, the backup who has excelled in Dez’s absence, said Dez comes to the locker room with a good attitude.
But Brewer admitted Dez is "up and down. He’ll be on some highs, then some lows. At practice, he’s fine. Game time ... it’s tough.”
It should be tough. Dez should have to suffer for what he did.
But three games is enough. The suffering should end. Free Dez.
Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080; Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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You just used the terms "NCAA" and "common sense" in the same post. Therefore, your credibility is nil.
What Bush did is a crime called bribery, he paid off the people who had knowledge of his taking a lush property for his parents to live in, I guess he has friends in high places in the gov't to not want to pursue that just as USC does with the NCAA. Not fair and certainly hypocritical in lieu of their actions against Dez Bryant and others who make simple human errors. Everyone in their life lies...only J.C. did not.
The Boz should make a small fortune by printing up a few million of those T-shirts and selling them to the disgruntled, who think this action against Bryant is beyond ridiculous.
As much as I would like to see Dez back on the field, it sure would be great to see the NCAA hold him out the rest of the season and OSU still win the Big 12 in spite of it all.
Injunction gets filed in Payne Co., Dez plays the rest of the year, and they define the rules and penalty later.
You loser. 3-3 ...boomer
Jason, Tulsa - Oct 20, 2009 at 11:20 am
LOL Jason, you are too funny!
GO POKES - FREE DEZ
Dez's only sin to the NCAA was admitting he lied.
If you were any kind of football fan you would already know the answer. In case you're too lazy to look it up the answer is TEN.
Oklahoma State also has 48 team national titles, the fourth-most team national championships in the country.
BTW, I haven't heard anything about this but I imagine that the NCAA doesn't talk to athletes that are currently enrolled in member institutions without telling the institution. If this is the case then I imagine that OSU at some point asked Dez what might warrant an NCAA interview and after the interview asked about what was discussed if OSU didn't have an official present during questioning. I hate to cast such wide aspersions without necessarily knowing all the facts, but under the above circumstances it wasn't just the NCAA that Bryant betrayed but OSU as well.
To answer your question john....I hope you aren't trying to use your sooner education and trying to count conference championships for osu...0. Yes we have ZERO.
John, another question to answer is, when was the last time OU beat a decent team? OSU last year?
GO POKES!
"Big Game Bob" is really bob barker.
As for the Sooners, they where overrated at the beginning of the season and still are after three losses. Sooners 7 - 5 and will be at the Alamo Bowl.
Maybe Obama can fix this along with health care, war, the economy, my taxes etc. LOL
GO POKES - FREE DEZ
"Oklahoma State played Saturday's game without three All-Americans, as WR Dez Bryant, RB Kendall Hunter and CB/KR Perrish Cox were all sidelined due to injuries."
http://www.okstate.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/092709aaa.html
And Mary from Oklahoma City: "Had this been a player from OU or Texas you can bet that the player would have been reinstated immediately." Tell that to Mike Balogun, who lost his eligibility because of a admittedly inaccurate box score on an internet site. Tell it to Brian Bosworth, who had to sit out of a bowl game because he took a banned substance BEFORE it was banned.
Tramel's article is spot on. Unless Dez did something more than lie about his meeting with Deion, and I haven't heard any evidence that he did, then he's had enough punishment. I'm afraid, however, that I have no confidence that the NCAA will do the right thing. Just look at the two examples I cited above, as well as the example of Jeremy Bloom in Colorado or the Andrew Oliver situation at oSu, as well as many other examples one could easily compile from around the country over the years, to see that fairness and integrity are not high on the NCAA's priority list.
GO POKES!
On another subject...Mike Gundy is one cool customer. (There's another topic for you to write about soon.)
F#@k Tibet!
Free Dez!
I bet coaches and AD's across the nation are having discussions with their athletes about how to handle and NCAA investigator's interview.
Its the only card the NCAA can play.
Coaches can say whatever they want about injuries, there never has been or ever should be a penalty for lying to the media about them. Coaches do it all the time, and they have no obligation to the fans or the media to let them know exactly why a player is not playing. I don't understand why this is an issue that keeps being brought up. Gundy didn't even really lie about it, just kind of let everyone belief what they wanted to believe.
I still support Dez and always will. GO POKES!