Football: Cowboys may forget players' past - Jones considers certain players who have had character issues

Tom Orsborn
Express-News

IRVING — Long before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced his crackdown on violators of the league's player-conduct policy, the Dallas Cowboys pledged to continue efforts to stock their roster with nothing but exemplary citizens.
"I'm a big proponent of a heavy emphasis being placed on character, be it the draft or free agency," Cowboys scouting director Jeff Ireland told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "The worst drafting mistakes a team makes usually involve character."

Considering Ireland's comments, the likelihood of Dallas selecting a player with character issues in the first-round of the NFL draft today would seem remote.

So why does Miami defensive back Brandon Meriweather, whose background includes two incidents that resulted in embarrassing headlines, remain on the Cowboys' draft board?

A cynic might say it's because the team needs to improve its secondary and is intrigued by Meriweather's ability to play free safety, nickel cornerback and special teams equally well.

In other words, Dallas is willing to overlook his potential for problem behavior because he also has the potential to be a problem for opposing offenses.

Or is it because the Cowboys have been diligent in their research and are confident Meriweather won't be a problem.

"He's a pretty unique player," owner/general manager Jerry Jones said of Meriweather during the team's pre-draft news conference Monday. "I don't want to in any way get into the details, but we haven't taken him off the board."

The major black mark against Meriweather is his one-game suspension last season for stomping on and kicking the heads of Florida International players during a brawl between the teams. He also was scrutinized for firing a handgun he legally owned to defend a friend and teammate who'd been shot in the buttocks.

Every prospect with a blemish in his past was concerned about his stock falling after Goodell suspended Tennessee's Adam "Pacman" Jones for a year and Cincinnati's Chris Henry for eight games.

"That makes it more risky to draft a player if he proves to make bad decisions," said Jerry Jones, who noted it's not unusual for the Cowboys to take players off their board because of character issues.

In light of Goodell's hard line on player discipline, some league observers say teams would be wise to avoid players with a history of misbehavior.

"They're going to run the risk that the commissioner may carry a heavy hand when it comes to teams that draft people who have known character issues," former Titans general manager Floyd Reese, who drafted "Pacman" Jones last year, told the Associated Press. "As a franchise, you're probably putting yourself in harm's way if you draft somebody with character issues.

So why hasn't Dallas ruled out drafting Meriweather? Or, for that matter, Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss, who served a one-game suspension last season for marijuana use?

In Meriweather's case, one draft analyst says the answer probably stems from the Cowboys' interview with the soft-spoken player at team headquarters in Irving.

"I talked to a guy who interviewed him for another team and was told Meriweather does a real good job looking people in the eye and saying, 'Talk to my coaches and talk to my teachers. I'm a good guy,'" Mike Mayock of the NFL Network said.

Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN's long-time draft guru, said Meriweather could fall under the category of a kid who made a mistake, learned from it and has moved on.

Thanks to extensive background checks conducted by the NFL, the Cowboys are quite familiar with Meriweather, Moss and any other player on their board. Among the information gathered by the league are police records, driving records and financial records.

"You review these things on a case-to-case basis," Kiper said. "I'd be more concerned if there was (an arrest) in the last six to eight months."

But even if the Cowboys do select a player with character flags, Jerry Jones is confident the team has a support system that can help him steer clear of trouble.

"Calvin Hill has done a great job since he's joined our organization," Jones said of the former Cowboys running back turned counselor. "He has always been able to get me real comfortable that we've got a good read on where our players are with their character situations."

In the case of Meriweather and Moss, the Cowboys apparently already know all they need to know.