Cowboys' probe of Greg Hardy may not have been enough

PHOENIX – The word Jason Garrett used on many occasions during his media session at the NFL owners' meetings Wednesday was "exhaustive."

The Dallas Cowboys' head coach said the team was exhaustive in its vetting of defensive lineman Greg Hardy, who was arrested in May 2014, charged, and convicted by a North Carolina judge for assaulting his ex-girlfriend. Last week, Dallas signed Hardy to a one-year deal worth up to $13.1 million.

The question is: Were the Cowboys exhaustive enough?

Garrett said his team spoke with "dozens and dozens" of people about Hardy. He spoke to Hardy's former coach with the Panthers, Ron Rivera, who gave "great wisdom." He said the team spoke with people who knew Hardy as far back as high school. He said he interviewed people in law enforcement. And he spoke with Hardy himself, for many hours.

This is important. The Cowboys needed to investigate someone whose acquisition was so controversial that the city's mayor called the decision "a shot in the gut." This decision was so controversial that in the hour of questions Garrett faced here on Wednesday, not a single one related to the team's superstar quarterback, Tony Romo.

Yet through the course of that hour, other questions emerged. Garrett said he did not speak with anyone in Hardy's family. He said he asked Hardy "specifically" about the incident that led to his arrest, but when asked if Hardy showed remorse, Garrett said, "We just spoke specifically about what happened."

Garrett said Hardy was "direct and honest, and I appreciate that." But when asked what he learned about Hardy's character, he said, "I think he's an intense person. I think he cares a great deal about football. I think he wants to be the right kind of guy and what we're going to do is we're going to try
to approach this thing on a day-by-day basis."

That's not in itself a reassurance. Anyone looking at a possible payday of $13 million would care a lot about football and want a clean slate. How can anyone really know what Hardy has learned at this stage? Wouldn't it be preferable to ask Hardy to go through a longer rehabilitation before joining the team? The NFL isn't even done fact-finding on the Hardy case. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday his goal is to "uphold the standards of our personal conduct policy." If Hardy failed in that way, why is he already getting a "clean slate"?

The reason for Garrett and owner Jerry Jones to go forward is quite obvious: Hardy is an outstanding pass rusher, and the team does not have much of a pass rush. As a football decision, this is an unquestioned coup. But if the Cowboys care about their place in the community, and the message they send to families, this decision becomes a landmine.

Asked what he would say to domestic violence victims who are upset that the Cowboys went in this direction, Garrett bristled.

"None of us are in support of domestic violence. I think we all understand that," Garrett said. "This is about signing a player who we think can help our football team, someone we did an exhaustive amount of research and due diligence on. And we're going to give him a chance."

That answer makes sense to many. It will also upset many. Of course no one supports domestic violence – and it's important to note the chargers were dismissed when Hardy's accuser failed to appear in court as Hardy's appeal was set to begin – but the message sent here is not one of absolute intolerance of domestic violence.

Here's what the Cowboys have going for them: they seem to have a strong support staff, which is what Hardy will badly need. That staff worked extensively with defensive lineman Josh Brent, who got into a car while drunk in December 2012 and ended up crashing the vehicle, killing teammate and friend Jerry Brown. Brent was slowly worked back into the Cowboys' organization after serving time in jail, with the blessing of Brown's mother, and he seems to have adjusted well so far. Brent has dedicated his career to the memory of his friend. The Cowboys' goal is to assist Hardy similarly. "My No. 1 job," Garrett said, "is to create an environment to bring out the best in the football team." Garrett trusts that environment and trusts himself.

That does not, however, mean that Hardy is trustworthy. That is something he will have to prove over months and even years – to the team as well as the community. Garrett knows this, and he better know the cost of a mistake. If there is another domestic violence incident, it would mean Jones and his team welcomed into the community someone who was unsafe to be around. The responsibility for Hardy's prior behavior is on Hardy. But now the responsibility for Hardy's behavior is partially on them.

Garrett and the Cowboys deliberately mitigated their football risk by incentivizing the contract. "He will have to earn every step of the way," Garrett said. In fact, when asked about risk, Garrett said, "We don't view this as a risk."

He meant in a football sense, but the answer is instructive: he's a football coach weighing a football move. He is not weighing the potential problems for the franchise and the league if Hardy falters off the field. Everyone deserves a second chance, and it's very hard to argue against that, but a second incident will have severe repercussions throughout the football community.

The Cowboys have had a long-standing relationship with the Salvation Army, a leader in protecting domestic violence victims. Jones' daughter, Charlotte Jones Anderson, is the first woman ever to chair The Salvation Army's National Advisory Board. She is on board with this decision, but there's no question Hardy's future affects her reputation.

"A lot of people say this is awful, but they don't know what to do," Anderson told the Dallas Morning News. "That's why this is such an incredible opportunity. That's why I'm not afraid of this move."

It is an incredible opportunity if Hardy turns around his life. It is a potential tragedy if he doesn't.

Garrett said Hardy is "committed to getting better as a person." If the Cowboys' due diligence was truly exhaustive, that commitment will be clear to every fan who watches America's Team play. If the Cowboys didn't do enough, that too will become sadly clear.