O'Connor: Cowboys should suspend Greg Hardy, not enable him
Jerry Jones hired Greg Hardy for a very simple reason. Hardy has extreme talent, and on any given Sunday extreme talent prevails in the NFL.
Jones is not in the business of rehabilitation. He merely wants to make sure he doesn't go another 20 years without winning a Super Bowl.
Jones signed Hardy to hit the other guy's quarterback, and hit him hard, even though the former Carolina Panther had been suspended by the league after he was accused of strangling and threatening to kill a woman whom he would throw onto a futon covered with loaded guns.
"Our organization understands the very serious nature of domestic violence in our society and in our league," Jones said at the time. "We know that Greg has a firm understanding of those issues as well."
As it turned out, Hardy had no such firm understanding that women should not be treated as possessions or playthings. Upon reinstatement, before facing the New England Patriots, Hardy told reporters that he couldn't wait to see Tom Brady's supermodel wife, that he hoped Gisele Bundchen brought her sister and friends to the game, and that he votes for Pro Bowl candidates based on the appearance of their significant others.
Though Jones made a fool of himself by confirming to SI.com that Brady's wife is, you know, really, really hot, Jason Garrett understood that comments objectifying women represented a problem for a man convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend (the charges were later dismissed when the accuser declined to appear in court for the appeal). The Cowboys coach reprimanded Hardy and told the news media, "That's not how we want to operate as an organization." Garrett assured everyone Hardy got the message that he was to make future headlines only with his helmet and pads.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13975469/cowboys-suspend-greg-hardy-not-enable-him
