Cowboys Comeback: 'I Never Gave Up' - Randy Gregory
FRISCO - Randy Gregory made his 2020 NFL post-suspension debut on Oct. 25, meaning that he went 652 days between games.
"I never gave up," said Gregory, who has flashed this year as a Dallas Cowboys pass-rusher. "I've had times where I've doubted myself, I've had times where I wondered what life would be like without football. But the biggest thing for me, the biggest thing I'm most proud of is that I never gave up."
Gregory is now 28, his position as the 60th player chosen in the 2015 NFL Draft well behind him. Hopefully, his behavioral issues - the ones that saw him wrestling with challenges and also wrestling with the league, which handed him a series of suspensions - are as well.
He remains a part-time player for Dallas; we reported a few weeks ago that some members of the coaching staff favor some of the other defensive ends, including not only DeMarcus Lawrence and Aldon Smith, but also Dorance Armstrong. While some have disputed our report, we're now seven games into Gregory's season, and while he's played well during his time (with his two sacks for the year both coming in a Thanksgiving loss to Washington), he also has played just 20 percent of the snaps.
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So the comeback climb still has a way to go - which takes nothing away from what's been achieved so far in his self-improvement efforts toward sobriety and coping with mental-health challenges.
“It’s a day-to-day thing,” Gregory said. “It’s something I’m constantly working on and trying to better myself, not only for the sake of my career but my personal life, for my family. So, something I have under wraps right now.
"I'm very proud of myself, proud of the individuals who helped me get here, and I just take it one day at a time.’'
Many of those individuals were present at AT&T Stadium for his personal breakout game against WFT.
"I had my girlfriend, my daughter, my parents, some other close friends at that game," Gregory said. "My birthday is that week as well, the 23rd. "It's a home game, color rush uniforms, alternate jersey. Just be able to go out there and play against a rival like the Washington football team."
The Jones family, of course, was present as well. Gregory offered them thanks for their involvement in his story.
“Jerry, Mr. Jones, the whole Jones family, they know how much they mean to me,” Gregory said. “I think at this point, I understand how much I mean to them.
“One of the things I appreciate the most about the Jones family is that they’ve been able to take away the business aspect of it and really focus on me as an individual, as a person. … Seeing them stick by my side and help in any way they could, when they could, just stick this thing out with me, has been real big.''
Gregory acknowledged that he's been involved in a maturation process, and he sounds humbled by the experience as he notes he's "kind of rebuilding my reputation.''
"I think overall, I've had a pretty solid comeback," said Gregory, who will try to help the 4-9 Cowboys in Sunday's noon visit from the San Francisco 49ers. "Obviously ... I'm still even at this point kind of getting my feet under me, but I'm just continuing to get better in practice and hopefully putting that out on the field on game day."
