Does ‘trash talk’ Hardy need to “talk” his way to an apology?
Dallas Cowboys Defensive End, Greg Hardy, has never been one that is shy with the media. In fact, he relishes in his chance to trash talk the rest of the NFL, if not the world, every time a mic seems to find him. However, in his return from a four-game suspension served on the account of a domestic violence charge, Hardy took no time in making headlines for his words and this time took a direct dig at Patriot’s quarterback, Tom Brady.
The 2-2 Cowboys host the undefeated Patriots this Sunday, where Hardy will look to apply major pressure to Brady and therefore play a huge role in helping Dallas come out with the win. When asked about facing Brady, Hardy referred to Brady’s supermodel wife, Gisele Bundchen, commenting, “I love seeing Tom Brady. You seen his wife? I hope she comes to the game. I hope her sister comes to the game”, on Wednesday per Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News.
Despite whatever affections he does or does not have for the Brady Bunch family, Hardy made it clear that he plans on creating some distress for the quarterback upon is his first game back this season. Hardy stated his views on facing Brady in his debut: “The same way I did last time I saw him, hopefully on the ground” per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News.
The New England Patriots gave Brady’s thoughts on Hardy’s comments, taking a much more diplomatic approach. Brady responded, “I'm just getting ready to play. I'm focused on my job. He's a great player. It takes a lot of different things to handle a guy like that. He's been a great player since he's been in the league. We're going to have to prepare for him and be ready for all the different types of moves that he's got. They have a good D-line anyway. They count on getting pressure from their front four to get to the quarterback.
I don't really care about his personal feelings” (per Mike Chiari, Feature Columnist of Bleacher Report).
It can be assumed that the 27-year old pass rusher was simply making these comments to get into Brady’s head. However, he might find that a difficult task to complete considering the four-time Superbowl champion has faced far harsher comments this past off season with the Deflategate scandal.
Nevertheless, pending the 2014 scandal when his ex-girlfriend accused him of domestic violence and throwing her on a couch covered in guns, Hardy made a questionable comment when describing his excitement to return saying, “I hope I come out guns blazing” (per Brandon George).
Although the charges against Hardy were later dropped, he leaves the public awaiting a much more apologetic and considerate facet in hopes of seeing it sooner rather than later. Upon a series violent incidents early in the 2014 season with cases such as the Raven’s Ray Lewis or the Steeler's Jonathon Dwyer, the NFL launched the “No More” campaign to take on the issue of domestic violence and sexual assault within the NFL and worldwide.
It is safe to say the Hardy comments create distortion between the NFL’s goals and its leagues biggest stars. Per Clarence Hill of the Dallas Morning News, head coach Jason Garrett took immediate action. Thursday, he said, “That’s not how we want to operate as an organization. Players and coaches in our organization understand that. We want to distinguish ourselves with our play, not with what we say. We want to define ourselves with what we do. ... Greg understands that now. That’s how we want to proceed going forward."
Of course, if Hardy can return to full form aiding a win over the Patriots it will be much easier for America’s Team to dismiss dealing with his trash talk. Nonetheless, at what point will enough be enough?