Dez Bryant (and Today, Chiefs QB Mahomes) To Cowboys: 'They Gotta See This!'
FRISCO - Dez Bryant tells CowboysSI.com that he remains optimistic about getting an audience with his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, while also noting in an on-camera visit, regarding his quality of workouts, "They gotta see this!''
Two weeks ago, Bryant, the Cowboys' all-time leader in receiving TDs, told us his intention was that his comeback bid would aided by the star of the Kansas City Chiefs, Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.
"Yes,'' Bryant told CowboysSI.com, with a nod to the East Texas roots he (from Lufkin) shares with Mahomes (from Whitehouse). "We're going to get together later in the spring.''
Shan Shariff of 105.3 The Fan suggested that such a workout involving Mahomes may take place as early as today. And indeed, it's on.
(See the above sit-down with Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) and Bobby Belt (@BobbyBeltTX) for more.
After a two-year layoff, Bryant, 31, has a desire to play ... and more specifically, to play for the only team he's ever known, the Cowboys.
“I’m where I need to be (physically) right now,” Bryant told CowboysSI.com. “I’m more serious than ever. ... I’m 100-percent hungry for the right situation.''
Cowboys COO Stephen Jones is acknowledging that Dez hasn't just broached the idea with us; he's broached the idea directly with the Cowboys.
“He has texted me about wanting to come back,” Jones told CowboysSI.com. "You know what we think of Dez. And we're always in the player-evaluation business.''
As Bryant said in his on-camera visit with Slater and Belt, there seems to be at least a bit of open-mindedness here on the part of the Cowboys.
In our recent one-on-one interview with the comeback-minded Bryant, he makes it clear he continues to “work in the lab,” as he likes to describe his training regimen. He told us his workouts (at DFW's Michael Johnson Performance gym and also at the Baylor, White & Scott Hospital gym, which is in "The Star'' neighborhood but not inside Cowboys HQ) are often conducted alongside a group of potential 2020 NFL draftees.
"I'm surprising myself and also trying to do some teaching,'' he said.
We can report that the Cowboys suddenly seem to be at least slightly more intrigued following Bryant's text. (Let's call it a "never-say-never'' approach, for now.) They'll want to know where he is mentally and physically, of course, as Bryant has passed on some opportunities to return to the NFL since his April 2018 release from Dallas and then his ensuing November injury (a torn Achilles) sustained just two days after signing with New Orleans.
We would add this: As many of his workouts are staged in The Star neighborhood, how could new Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy not be intrigued enough to take a peek? Why wouldn't the Cowboys - quietly, if Dez can manage 'quietly'' - ask him to literally walk one minute across the street from the hospital gym to Ford Center for a session?
His time away from football has allowed the franchise leader in TD catches (Bryant has 73) to pursue his business interests and to father a brood than now includes four children. Zayne is 12, Dez Jr. Is 9 (“going on 21, says proud Dad), Isabella Rose is 5 and Legend Mac-Rose is 1.
But told us his "passion is big enough'' for both family and football. Now he simply needs to get his beloved Dallas Cowboys to take a look for themselves.
