Dallas Cowboys executive on Hardy: We don’t throw people away

The Cowboys signed Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy last week to a one year deal following his domestic violence conviction in 2014.

Last week, the Dallas Cowboys signed former Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy to a one-year deal that could pay him as high as $13.1 million. The signing bolstered a defense that, while serviceable, ranked 26th in passing yards allowed and sometimes struggled to get to the quarterback.

For the past year, Hardy has been embroiled in domestic violence issues having been convicted in July of hitting and threatening his ex-girlfriend. Hardy may be suspended for part of the 2015 season.

The move has drawn some criticism among fans and pundits alike, and team executive Charlotte Jones Anderson addressed this criticism when talking to the Dallas Morning News.

More from Dallas Cowboys

From the Dallas Morning News:

"“We don’t believe in throwing people away,” Anderson said, noting the club’s association with the Salvation Army and The Gatehouse, which celebrates its grand opening Thursday. “The experts have told us it is far better to provide a way out, coupled with educational and rehabilitative services and therapy. That does more to protect the victim and prevent future violence than a zero tolerance policy. We have to trust the advice of the experts.“I embrace that.”"

Perhaps instead of “We don’t believe in throwing people away,” Anderson could have said “We don’t believe in battering people when they’re down,” or even “We don’t believe in turning away from people when they’re vulnerable.” It would help to keep the tone consistent.

Anderson and the Cowboys are spinning this signing as though it were some grand humanitarian act, that they signed Hardy in order to save his life. Jerry Jones was Ebeneezer Scrooge, and Greg Hardy was Tiny Tim, and the Ghost of Football Yet to Come showed Jones a future where a poor, domestic violence-ridden Hardy was spiraling downward.

Apparently the best way to help a man convicted of hitting people in private is to pay him millions to hit people in public on television.

This was a move to add a blue-chip pass rusher to the defense. If Hardy didn’t have the talent he currently possesses, he wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity to be rehabilitated with the Cowboys resources. Anderson is correct in saying that people have the capacity to change, and Hardy may eventually become a model human. But they actually need time to change before their reward.

[H/T: Dallas Morning News]

The Cowboys signed Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy last week to a one year deal following his domestic violence conviction in 2014.

More from FanSided