Leighton Vander Esch Blasts Cowboys Critics for ‘Classless Nonsense’

FRISCO - The interviewee was Leighton Vander Esch. The subject was the release of Jaylon Smith.

And Vander Esch “went there” on the subject of critics of the Dallas Cowboys who use social media to voice their “classless nonsense.”

This merits Q-and-A-style treatment for the former first-round linebacker’s Thursday media visit - some elbow room for Vander Esch to make his points.

‘WHAT BUGS ME …’

“What bugs me most about it is when people that are on the outside, fans or whoever, they say, ‘Oh, someone deserves this’ or ‘someone deserves that.’

“They don’t realize that this is literally our livelihoods. We literally could get up and traded the next morning. We literally could be in 50 freakin’ different states.

‘JUST NONSENSE’

“So people need to realize what they’re saying is literally just like nonsense. And I think that’s a big problem in the world today. And they need to cut that out.

“We don’t go talking about someone else’s job, so why are they talking about our jobs? It’s super-frustrating. It’s annoying. I think it’s classless.”

READ MORE: Jaylon's Deal With the Packers

"I’ve got a lot of strong words for it. I know a lot of guys around the league deal with it. We’ve got families who might be in one area. You’ve got dudes that have been playing for a team for eight years. They get traded, they’ve got family, they’ve got kids that have been there for that long. Think about that before you say something like, ‘This guy deserves that or this guy deserves that.’

We don’t go saying ‘Oh, we’re not in your business about how much you guys are getting paid, or what your boss is saying or this and that’ about anyone else’s job. We’re not doing that.

‘IT’S RIDICULOUS’

“This is our livelihood. We could get traded, we could get cut tomorrow. So people need to realize what they’re saying on social media because I think it’s ridiculous … Put yourself in that position … That’s what I’m saying, people need to realize when they’re saying [things]. That’s not fun regardless of who it is or whether someone has been playing up to their standards or not.”

ON JAYLON HIMSELF

“Obviously, he was unique in how he chose to lead and how he chose to talk to everybody. You aren’t going to be able to mirror that because he’s his own personality, he’s his own character.

“He was a good teammate.”

ON JAYLON’S GOODBYE LETTER TO THE TEAM

“The statement he gave to (coordinator Dan Quinn), telling us to go get it and that he’s got everybody’s backs regardless of the situation that he’s in, it just shows you the character and type of person that he is. Yeah, it’s a tough situation.

“He wanted DQ to share that with us and told us we have something special going here and he wants us to go get it all.”

Our conclusion? Vander Esch’s “what-about-your-job” retort doesn’t fly; nobody cares about the salesman’s job, the plumber’s job or the secretary’s job the way they care about the Cowboys - and that’s why NFL players are paid more handsomely than salesmen, plumbers and secretaries.

But in terms of observing and judging the Cowboys? Let's put it this way: There is some irony in the way Jaylon Smith, in the end, handled his departure with class.

Add us as a preferred source on Google