Courage

People are forever talking about gutless politicians, so imagine my surprise to find an act of political courage coming out of the Lone Star State, of all places, with the subject of comment being pro football, no less.

But Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings couldn’t keep quiet when the Cowboys signed defensive end Greg Hardy this week.  Hardy beat domestic-violence charges last summer when his ex-girlfriend refused to testify against him, this after a financial settlement had been reached between them, I might add.  Yes, according to my rulebook, a player who is done with the justice system shouldn’t face more face punishment from the league in question.  But that shouldn’t keep fans from blasting their team for acquiring a bad character.

Which is what Rawlings did, according to the Dallas Evening News.  “”I’m a big Cowboys fan,” said the mayor in published comments.  “I want them to beat the Eagles every time they play.  But at some point, being a sports fan gets trumped by being a father, [or] husband, [and] wanting to do what’s right for women, so this [signing of Hardy] is not a good thing.  I don’t think I’m going to be buying Hardy jerseys any time soon.” Rawlings also called the Hardy signing “a shot in the gut.”

Yet words that took guts to say.