Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

In Rolling Stone’s NFL special, a thing apparently, Dez Bryant stands on the cover. Inside, the Cowboys receiver is profiled, and Dem Boyz don’t really come out looking too great.
The crux of their stupidity comes in the form of David Wells, who “was presented to Bryant as an urban fixer, a wealthy former bail bondsman who rescued lost souls, particularly those who played for the Dallas Cowboys.” After Dez left Oklahoma State, Wells began paying for his clothes and bought Bryant a car, “without discussing any sort of repayment,” and in return Wells had power of attorney to oversee Bryant’s financials. This partnership continued after Bryant was drafted, but it went much further. According to Rolling Stone’s Paul Solotaroff:

“And when Bryant was arrested, in the summer of 2012, for striking his mother during a family spat, the Cowboys stepped in and put their boot heel to him with an unprecedented set of conditions. In a contract, according to Bryant’s legal team, he agreed to pay Wells $17,000 a month for 24-hour security; to be home by midnight, and install cameras to record his comings and goings; and to bar anyone, including friends and family, from paying visits without prior consent from Wells.”

Basically, Bryant was so distrusted by Jerry and Stephen Jones, the architects of the deal, that he had to pay $17k a month to have another man babysit him and treat him like a child or he’d be released or traded (technically, the $17k per month is garnished from his salary). In doing so, they make Dan Snyder look rational.

That has to be the most demeaning shit I’ve ever heard. It’s like if you got grounded in high school, weren’t allowed to do any of the stuff you wanted or talk to anyone, and you had to pay your dad $17,000. But somehow, it gets worse.
Dez has a temper, and that much he’s willing to admit – not too much though. “They treat me like I’m some kind of one-man crime wave,” Bryant told Solotaroff. “I told Mr. Jones, ‘I’m not Michael Irvin,’ but he wasn’t trying to hear me out.” So they more or less forced him into this deal, and Bryant says the whole time, Wells was stealing from him. And not just the robbery of babysitting an adult for $204,000 per year, but actual robbery.

After Dez signed to Roc Nation, he hired an accounting firm to review his finances. They told him “between $700,000 and $900,000 of Bryant’s money went to Wells or unidentified accounts … This included $377,000 paid to Wells or companies owned by him (part of which was the $17,000 monthly payments), an estimated $85,000 went to insure six cars not in Bryant’s name, at least one of which belonged to Wells, and checks made out to Bryant that his financial team still hasn’t been able to locate.” Maybe check Wells’ bank account?

Wells, whom I want to remind you the Cowboys’ made Bryant pay $17k a month, previously “bodyguarded” for Michael Irvin and helped with his finances. He also got fired from the Dallas Police Department over a “missing pair of boxing gloves,” he’s pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and he’s been sued multiple times by multiple parties with judgments exceeding $1 million. He’s retained by the Cowboys to run background checks on players. They probably didn’t run one on him.

Solotaroff talked to Wells and asked him if he was the one who leaked the story of the supposed Wal-Mart security video, which he vehemently denied, so you gotta take his word on that I guess. He also asked Dez if he’s warned new Cowboys about Wells. “Man, I’m way ahead of you,” Bryant responded. “I called them the minute they joined the team. And just let Dave try to mess with Greg Hardy. He’ll slap the bitch right outta him!”

I thought choking was more Greg Hardy’s style?