Again, a story is developing around Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant that creates more questions than answers, and again it stems from the work of NFL.com reporter Ian Rapoport.
In November, Rapoport reported on six incidents -- the most recent occurring in November 2013 -- that resulted in DeSoto police responding to house Bryant reportedly rented from Texas State Senator Royce West. Shan Sharrif, a local radio host, did a thorough a breakdown of the incidents, none of which resulted in Bryant being arrested. In all of the incidents except one, as Sharrif points out, it's not even clear that Bryant was involved at all.
The timing of the report, as well as Rapoport's most recent revelation, is questionable. The Cowboys are in the middle of a protracted contract discussion with Bryant, one most people believe will end up with Bryant having the franchise tag hung on him for the 2015 season. Both of Rapoport's reports present the incidents as evidence backing up the Cowboys' hesitation to give Bryant a lot of of guaranteed money.
The Lancaster incident is convoluted. Basically, police were called after witnesses reported seeing a women being dragged out of a white Mercedes. When cops showed up, the woman was not at the scene, the Mercedes was empty but had its door open and there was a children's toy on the ground. The car was registered to Bryant.
According to a security guard at the Wal-Mart, a black Cadillac Escalade arrived after the incident. It parked next to the Mercedes. The two men inside the Escalade, which was also registered to Bryant, told police that they'd received a call from the woman to pick up the Mercedes from the parking lot.
As cops spoke to the two men in the Escalade a white Bentley pulled into the parking lot. Bryant and the woman alleged to have been attacked were in the car. Bryant told police that the woman called him to pick her up in DeSoto and he came with her to the parking lot to offer support. The woman told police that she'd had an argument with a man, not Bryant, in the parking lot, that she had not been assaulted or physically harmed and that Bryant picked her up from a friend's house. Lancaster police told everyone at the scene that they were free to go. According to Rapoport, the Cowboys have known about the incident "for some time."
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio suggests that the incident may be the subject of the long rumored video of Bryant doing some nebulous bad thing.
