Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant went on a profanity-filled rant at a reporter in the locker room Thursday, and was further agitated when another reporter tweeted about the exchange.
Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant went on a profanity-filled rant at a reporter in the locker room Thursday, and was further agitated when another reporter tweeted about the exchange.
He later wrote that the alleged use of a racial slur by the first reporter toward another player triggered the outburst.
Bryant's second tirade interrupted Jason Witten's weekly session with the media, and the 13th-year tight end worked to calm the situation and help get Bryant out of the locker room, as did coach Jason Garrett.
Bryant was upset about something a reporter had written, and had been asking for days where he was. According to ESPN, Bryant was upset about a story by their reporter, Jean-Jacques Taylor. ESPN reported that wide receiver Devin Street attempted to get involved and later claimed Taylor used a racial epithet.
Taylor, who is black, denied using the slur. Other members of the media who were present in the room also did not hear the epithet, according to reports.
Bryant, meanwhile, could first be heard yelling at Dallas Cowboys Public Relations Director Rich Dalrymple, saying he's talking to the wrong people -- meaning he should be talking to members of the media instead of Bryant.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"How bout y'all fix this **** Rich. How bout you fix it Rich. You talking to us, you talking to the wrong people," Bryant said.
Bryant then walked back toward his locker, but continued shouting.
"I'll make sure I put it out there since y'all not gonna say nothing. I'm make sure [people know] that y'all called Street N*****. I'm gonna post that on Twitter. Then I'm gonna let them know why I do this. I'm gonna let it be known why I do it," Bryant said.
Bryant called all the reporters in the locker room "dirty" several times before he was led out by head coach Jason Garrett and Dalrymple.
"They dirty coach, all of 'em. And especially you," Bryant said, pointing.
Bryant later posted two tweets to Twitter about the rant, one of which mentioned the alleged use of the racial slur. They can be seen on his account here.
The Cowboys have lost six straight games, and part of Bryant's outburst was about the media "disrespecting this team."
"Dez shouldn't be in that situation," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. "If someone's going to incite him, just remove yourself from the situation."
In a Friday news conference, Garrett said the coaches will use the incident as an opportunity to improve and stay focused on football.
"We have to understand the world we live in and handle ourselves better," he said.
