Training camps are breeding grounds for aggression and passionate performances and at Dallas Cowboy's training camp in Oxnard California that was precisely the case.
Star wide receiver Dez Bryant got into an altercation involving cornerback Tyler Patmon after the two had been exchanging words all day. Both men lined up for a drill and as soon as contact was made helmets flew off. Bryant's helmet came off first and Patmon's moments later; this is when the punches started to fly. Patmon egged Bryant on and threw the first punch and that's when Bryant began to swing.
Immediately Cowboy's offensive linemen came in and separate the two players, even Tony Romo got into the action by grabbing Bryant and talking to him on the sidelines. Bryant and Romo are known to have a very good bond and mutual respect, after a few words Bryant came over to Patmon and apologized. Hugs were given hands were shaken and the day went on as usual except for the army of press that swarmed both players at the end of the day.
Bryant is obviously one of the main pieces for the Cowboy's offense and Patmon is just trying to move his way up the depth chart as an undrafted corner so any injury to Bryant would have had Cowboy Nation fuming however cooler heads prevailed. Bryant has this to say after practice..
"It's just two great competitors going at it. We were chirping a little bit back and forth, but at the end of the day, that's what you want, I got a little bit overheated. At the end of the day, that's something that you really need for a team to try to win ballgames."
Bryant added:
"If you would've seen the play before, I was giving him a little bit of mouth, just talking a whole bunch of stuff to him," he was talking back to me and it just escalated over to the next play. That's what happened. At the end of the day, he wasn't going to back down. I wasn't going to back down. At the end of the day, you seen us, we shook hands, we hugged and we respect one another. We both Oklahoma State guys, so I kind of know where he comes from; you don't want somebody weak on your team.
"That's why Patmon is here. Patmon was undrafted. He is fighting his way and he's fighting for respect. You can go to war with a guy like that any day of the week. Sometimes I just hate the fact that when it's me I know I can get kind of animated with everything. I'm very prideful and that's what you need to win ballgames. Patmon did what he's supposed to do."
Patmon had this to say about the situation,
"Cornerbacks and receivers, there is always history in between that. It's bound to happen and it's part of being a family. We got at it. We squashed it. It's over."
