Yahoo Sports 
Michael Irvin: Greg Hardy is 'mind-boggling impressive'
Battle lines are forming around Greg Hardy, the Dallas Cowboys defensive end who just recently returned to the field after 19 games out following an ugly domestic violence incident. Hardy himself was unrepentant, leering at Tom Brady's wife Gisele Bundchen and saying he planned to return to the field "guns blazing"—this, after throwing his then-girlfriend onto a bed covered with weapons.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones leaped to Hardy's defense, as you'd expect of the guy who signed Hardy after the Carolina Panthers dropped him. But the NFL itself criticized Hardy's comments, saying they "do not reflect the values of the league" (we'll leave the implied irony of that statement aside for now). Fox Sports commentator Terry Bradshaw went a step further, calling Jones a desperate "enabler" and saying "I really, really, seriously hope that eventually we never have a place in the NFL for people that touch a woman, strike a woman."
But Hardy has earned the endorsement of a former Cowboys notable, receiver Michael Irvin. Hardy recorded two sacks and five tackles in the Cowboys' game against the Patriots, and Irvin came away so impressed he was willing to gloss right over all that other unsavory stuff.
“I know a lot of people are mad at this dude, but I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is the first game!'” Irvin said, per For The Win. “That was crazy. The kind of pressure he got on Tom Brady. It was scary crazy.”
[Play Yahoo Daily Fantasy and get a 100% deposit bonus with your first deposit]
Then, in a further effort to elude any hint of the point of the anger at Hardy, Irvin pressed on. “I’m sorry everybody and I don’t want to be insensitive,” Irvin said. “But it was so impressive, mind-boggling impressive. If Greg Hardy was there the other two games [Atlanta and New Orleans], we would’ve won both. I got new hope. And that first game is gonna be his worst game because he is getting accustomed."
Irvin gushed over Hardy's ability to disrupt games and affect Brady, noting that the Cowboys could be 4-1 if he'd been on the roster all year, and headed to their second straight Super Bowl if he'd been on the roster last year. Say what you will about Michael Irvin, but that is definitely an opinion.
In the wake of Hardy's return, many commentators have asked how much violent behavior we're willing to overlook in the name of quality football. Irvin's clearly willing to overlook an awful lot.
Listen to Yahoo Sports' Grandstanding podcast for more NFL coverage:
Grandstanding: A Yahoo Sports podcast
Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed
____
Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.
