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Dez Bryant and Mike Florio are engaging in a spat that perfectly epitomizes 2020.
The former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver clapped back at the Pro Football Talk founder, who called for Bryant to be punished after publicizing recent workout sessions, technically violating local coronavirus stay-at-home orders.
“Either way I have a whole workout facility at HOME and a field on the side of my house… I’m going to get it in regardless,” Bryant tweeted Wednesday.
As previously reported, Bryant and multiple NFL players, including Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott, gathered for on-field training — first at an undisclosed Texas location, then at longtime WR trainer David Robinson’s facility — that featured route-running and pass-catching drills.
@dak dropping dimes to @DezBryant in the lab 🔬!!! Stay Tune…
The group, you might imagine, was not socially-distanced. They embraced and posed for photos together, and obviously all touched the same football. It was a standard offseason routine that’s only being magnified due to the ongoing pandemic and its associated measures.
@dak lance Fred .. we got great work in today
Florio nonetheless believes Bryant and Prescott set an irresponsibly dangerous, and borderline illegal, precedent.
“Beyond the fact that Prescott and Bryant are blatantly disregarding state and local mandates is the message sent by the decision to brazenly publicize videos of their workouts,” he wrote. “At a time when many continue to refuse to take the situation seriously, the involvement of the quarterback of America’s Team in such activities tells football fans and anyone else paying attention that Prescott and Bryant either think that it’s no big deal — and it gives college and high-school football players (along with other NFL players) fodder for justifying their own decisions to ignore requirements to stay at home and avoid workout facilities.”
He also chided both the league and the Cowboys for failing to interject. Discipline, argued Florio, is admissible in what are truly unprecedented times.
“Where are the Cowboys as this is happening? Where is the NFL? Perhaps the teams and the league should take a step back from their obsession to ensure that the virtual draft works without any major glitches to ensure that everyone connected to the league is following the same laws that so many others are adhering to, even if we’d rather not,” he wrote.
“No one, apparently, can keep guys like Prescott and Bryant from doing things they shouldn’t be doing. But why are they making their violation of these laws public? Again, it’s ignorance, stupidity, and/or flat-out disregard for the vulnerable members of society who are getting sick and who are dying because people continue to not take steps to freeze the distribution of the virus in its tracks.”
Bryant isn’t undeterred, however, as he continues pushing toward a (preferable Cowboys) comeback. It doesn’t sound like we’ve heard the last from the X-man.
I promise that situation not over… that put a bad wrap on my name and brand… messed with me mentally…enough this back to call of duty
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Dez Bryant Responds to NFL Analyst Who Wants Ex-Cowboys WR Punished for Workout