REUTERS/Tim Sharp
It had to have gone something like this. “Gentlemen, can I take your order?” “We all want America’s steak — Dez is paying.”
Back in July, Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant made a point to America’s team and the NFL at large. Defying the league’s tradition of servitude to veteran teammates, the high-profile rookie refused to carry fellow wideout Roy Williams’ pads.
“I’m not doing it,” Bryant told reporters. “I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads.”
Williams agreed to let the gaffe go in exchange for taking the team out to dinner. And last night, ESPN Dallas reports that Bryant fulfilled his promise, paying a whopping $54,896 bill for an 11-on-11 spread of food.
The reparations were filed at Pappas Bros., home of choice cuts of meat and a 90-page wine directory. To a rookie receiving more than $8 million in guaranteed money, it’s a slap on the wrist. But NewsFeed has its doubts that Bryant’s trend of shoulder pads for steaks will pick up steam among the rest of the NFL’s newbies.