Is the Cowboys Randy Gregory suffering from affluenza?

Following his recently announced four-game suspension for substance abuse, why is Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory squandering this opportunity?

The four game suspension of Dallas Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory has left me feeling a little numb. As a member of Cowboy Nation, I understand the importance of pass rushers. You will never hear defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli or any other defensive coordinator state that their game plan is to avoid pressuring the opposing quarterback.

It’s not surprising that a successful pass rusher might get a pass from the front office when dealing with off the field issues. The key word is successful and you can’t be that if you aren’t on the field. The loss of Gregory for four weeks says a lot about him as a person. When you purposely do things that hurt your team, one word is selfish but I’m leaning more towards stupid.

Gregory failed his drug test at the combine. People said, “Maybe he didn’t know that they were going to do drug testing there.” Gregory’s agent, other athletes going to the combine, his coaches and trainers could’ve talked to him about getting drug tested at the combine. Due to failing that drug test, Gregory entered the NFL on the drug program.

The NFL’s drug program says you’re going to get tested often and randomly. It’s the equivalent of law enforcement using highway road signs to tell drivers that a speed zone is ahead. When you get to the speed trap and see people pulled over getting tickets, you don’t come up with excuses for them. You laugh at them and question their intelligence. I mean, the signs said – Slow Down, Speed Zone Ahead.

When mistakes are made, we like to say, “Dude, you had ONE job!” Gregory entered the NFL with two and failed miserably at both. The first job was to sack quarterbacks. Sadly, Gregory and I finished the season with the same amount of sacks. Don’t mention the 16 quarterback pressures because that’s a failure stat. Quarterback pressure means you were close enough to Kirk Cousins to say “Good throw” after a completion.

Gregory’s other job was to not fail anymore drug tests. Since we’re discussing his four game suspension, he takes an “L” on that one too. I want to think it’s stupidity, but you aren’t burning yourself on a hot stove repeatedly. You can also understand an NFL playbook, so there’s some level of intelligence. You’re no longer allowed to jump off-sides, so how is smoking weed a forgivable mistake? Perhaps we have another case of – “affluenza”.

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Cowboy Nation covers every demographic, but it would be a safe bet that the majority of us work too hard to show sympathy towards Gregory. His rookie contract covered 4 years at $3.8 million with a signing bonus of $1 million. For most of us to earn that, we’d need 6 matching numbers on a Wednesday or Saturday night. My Powerball dream includes announcing my retirement and becoming the owner of a Top Golf facility or a Twin Peaks restaurant with plus sized waitresses.

There always seems to be a few rookies that don’t understand how fortunate they are to be professional athletes. In our eyes, you work once a week. The rest of the time is practice. In my Allen Iverson voice, “We talking about practice!” What do you have to practice – swim moves on tackle dummies? We can’t forget that you have to attend meetings where you watch and discuss football. Afterwards, you get to hit the gym with a free personal trainer. Your life really sucks – want to trade?

There are students graduating from the University of Nebraska with four year bachelor degrees that won’t see a $1 million dollar signing bonus. They may never equal the income you get for playing a game. Paying off that student loan is stress. Feeding your children while working two minimum wage jobs is stress. Filling out countless job applications before you get laid off is stress. Returning home from combat and adjusting to civilian life is stress. Those of us in the “real world” don’t get to pick and choose which rules we want to follow.

The NFL, like any work place has rules. Personally, I like Tito’s vodka but I drive tractor trailers for a living. That means I don’t think about drinking before operating my big rig on the highway. Unlike marijuana, drinking is legal but I can’t do it whenever I want. It’s a choice. It’s called being a responsible adult, being a professional and protecting my career.

The NFL has the rookie symposium with Tony Dungy and former NFL stars warning you of the pitfalls and off-field risks. Maybe attending a conference isn’t enough for everyone. Before these guys get millions have them do some roofing work in Texas during June; be a waiter at Denny’s and iHop on Friday and Saturday night; load a trailer with 50 pound bags of mulch and soil and do landscaping; sort packages and load trucks at a FedEx distribution center; answer phones at Comcast and deal with irate customers when their internet doesn’t work. Compare those paychecks to the one from the Dallas Cowboys.

If it’s not about the money, then announce your retirement and go smoke weed everyday. You have options. There are states where your drug of choice is legal and occupations that don’t do drug testing. Right now though, you’re hurting the Dallas Cowboys, the team we love, my team, our team and you won’t get any sympathy for that.

#GoCowboys

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