Randy Gregory has been banned from the NFL yet again, but the Cowboys aren’t giving up on the troubled defensive end. In a radio interview, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones explained that he still believes in Gregory, both as a player and as a person. 
“He’s a pure soul first and foremost, the proof of that is how he’s thought of everybody around him, teammates coaches everyone,” Jones said when asked why the Cowboys continue to support Gregory (via Clarence Hill of the Star Telegram). “He’s genuinely afflicted, genuinely. It’s real. He has to work through, just as you would many things as human beings. He has to work through this, the way and the way he works through it, the way he deals with his circumstances. It’s impressive. It may not look that impressive when you say look at the penalties that he’s endured but it is impressive. He’s trying to work through it. Everybody on this team knows that he is. He’s an outstanding player by instincts, mentally, physically, he’s outstanding. He doesn’t pretend to be anything that he isn’t.”
Gregory was indeed outstanding last season, finishing out with six sacks, 25 total tackles, and two forced fumbles in just 522 snaps. Although the length of Gregory’s ban is indefinite, Jones believes that he may be able to play in Week 1 of the 2019 season.
“I am by no means, in any way, weary, discouraged. As a matter of fact with his contribution that he made last year, all be we’d like to have more,” Jones said. “But what we did get, the impact he made was there. He did nothing but would encourage me to help him in any way we can to have a career. He’s a relatively young guy. He’s in excellent, relatively speaking for what he plays and what he’s been through as his position, he’s relatively healthy. He’s a guy we can invest some of our time in to help him get here and it will help us win.”
I guess the good news is at the rate he’s going, he’ll never accrue enough seasons to be a vested veteran, so he’ll just be a Cowboy for life unless someone wants to ship the Cowboys a 2nd round pick…
Try a 5th round pick like Josh Gordon. But Gordon actually accomplished something in the league before being traded.
The second round pick was a reference to the original draft cost if he were tendered as a RFA. Obviously no one would ever pay that price for him.
I know people will call this man a loser because he failed another drug test. Addiction is a real problem. The addicts need people they can lean on during their struggles. I commend Jerry Jones for doing
that and believing in people. I understand he stands to gain something if he gets clean but he could just as easily cut bait and be done with him.
The new CBA will probably not make marijuana a penalty and may even call it an acceptable for pain management. This will help many who are addicted to the opioids and pain meds they give out like candy. These guys beat themselves up and then can only receive the most addictive medicine but can’t take a hit of marijuana? Its beyond belief and dumb as hell.
Couldn’t agree more; however, if your job explicitly states “you can’t use marijuana” then don’t use marijuana!
really, what it comes down to is that he ks breaking the current rules. if the rules change, he still broke the ones that were in place when the action occured.
I’m a retired United States Probation Officer (28 yrs) and was a drug and alcohol treatment specialist. I supervised hundreds of addicts (many successfully) and help establish our drug testing and treatment program. As part of the job I attended various substance abuse conventions and training programs and even had the opportunity to view and study brains of deceased marijuana users. I also spoke in depth with many doctors and scientists about the dangers of marijuana addiction. The highly concentrated marijuana abused today is VERY damaging to the brain and laymen that condone its use simply have no idea what they’re talking about and should keep their trap shut. Establishing boundaries, showing you care, testing frequently and following through with very strong penalties EVERY time an abuser violates is the key to helping them eventually stop using altogether. I applaud the NFL’s testing program and its punitive rules. There’s no telling where Randy Gregory would be without the NFL’s program.
You know, I understand addiction, I have family who were addicts (or are addicts depending if you are of the opinion that you are always in a constant state of addiction), but my family member had to hit rock bottom before she changed her lifestyle. Until that change happens, I think they are losers. Gregory can turn it around, it’s up to him to kick his additction… or I guess we can all feel sorry for a player who just can’t stop smoking weed and blame the NFL for their rules.
Jerry Jones is standing by the guy because he thinks the guy can help his team win games. There is no ultralistic motive here.
This guy is such a loser
Jones deserves him
This dude should be banned for life by now the way the nfl did aldon Smith
Addiction is a serious problem which can take a long time and does take a whole lot of support to overcome, so on the one hand I’m glad to see Jones and the Cowboys stand by Gregory. On the other hand, if Randy was an undead yes free agent backup, we aren’t having this conversation because he would probably be unemployed right now. I hope that whatever help Gregory gets from the Cowboys is more about helping him recover than helping him play football.
Damn autocorrect: that should be “undrafted” free agent backup, not “undead yes”. It would be really nice if we could edit mobile posts, folks.
Jerry, let this guy go! He is an addict and will never have the brain capacity to understand that playing football for money is a privilege and not a right!
Banned for life? You are a freaking idiot! Do we know if it was for an actual failed test, or did he just miss a test or something else? Aldon Smith did more than just fail drug tests for weed, that’s why he was given that suspension.