Dallas mayor rips Cowboys for signing Greg Hardy

The mayor of Dallas is not happy about the Dallas Cowboys signing Greg Hardy who was found guilty of assaulting and threatening to kill his girlfriend last year.

Jerry Jones opened himself up to the criticism after he signed former Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy to a one-year deal earlier this week after he missed 15 games last year after he was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list.

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Hardy was on the commissioner’s exempt list because a judge found him guilty of assaulting and threatening to kill his girlfriend Nicole Holder. Hardy was the Panthers franchise player last year after he had 15 sacks in 2013, but saw more time in the court room than in the opponents backfield as a result of his legal trouble.

After the judge found him guilty, Hardy requested a jury trial which never materialized after Holder did not cooperate with the prosecution and she could not be located to testify at the trial. She reportedly was paid off in a settlement and the charges were dropped.

When she testified in the summer she said, “He looked me in my eyes and he told me he was going to kill me. I was so scared I wanted to die. When he loosened his grip slightly, I said just, ‘Do it. Kill me.'”

Naturally, you can expect backlash after signing a player with this on his resume and Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings echoed comments from Dallas sportscaster Dale Hansen who criticized the team for signing a guy who beats up women because he’s good on game day.

Rawlings told the Dallas Morning News he was disappointed and felt like it was a shot in the gut when he learned of the signing.

“I’m a big Cowboys fan. I love them to death and I want them to beat the Eagles every time they play,” Rawlings said, via Sarah Mervosh of the Dallas Morning News. “But at some point, being a sports fan gets trumped by being a father, husband, wanting to do what’s right for women, so this is not a good thing. I don’t think I’m going to be buying Hardy jerseys any time soon.”

The mayor who has campaigned for anti-domestic violence and has watched games in Jones’ suite said he is still a fan but he doesn’t have to agree with everything the team does.

It can be a death-blow for a Dallas politician to take a stand against the Cowboys but in this case, he’s absolutely right to disagree with the signing of a player who was found guilty by a judge of assaulting and threatening to kill his girlfriend.

But something tells me if he gets 15 sacks this year and helps the Cowboys win the NFC East there will be plenty of people who are blissfully ignorant of his past before donning the star on his helmet.

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