The editorial board of the Dallas Morning News has a favor to ask of Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett.  They want the coach to get off of his high horse when talking about wanting players of good character and integrity.  The Cowboys’ recent moves indicate that when it comes to building the team, character and integrity don’t mean Jack Squat.  What will the legions of female Cowboys fans think about rooting for players who have abused women.

Garrett’s newest player, Pro Bowl pass rusher Greg Hardy, was accused of grabbing his ex-girlfriend, throwing her into a bathtub, choking her with both hands, picking her up over his head and throwing her onto a couch, which happened to be covered with assault weapons. This allegedly happened in North Carolina in May. A judge convicted Hardy in June and issued a suspended, 60-day sentence. But Hardy appealed and, before his jury trial, settled out of court with the victim, who refused to testify at the appeal hearing. Charges were dropped.

Garrett’s team signed Hardy after its backup running back Joseph Randle was arrested twice in four months, once on a shoplifting charge and once after a 22-year-old woman said he pointed a gun and threatened to kill her. So far, Garrett has kept Randle on the team, alongside Josh Brent, whom the coach reinstated in November after a mere 10-game suspension that followed Brent’s intoxication manslaughter conviction. The drunken-driving wreck killed a teammate in 2012.

After all that, Coach Garrett, we ask this: Please spare us any more talk about “good integrity” or “solid character” having anything to do with who plays for the Dallas Cowboys.

Garrett is like any number of NFL officials — up to and including Commissioner Roger Goodell — who talk a big game on the value of integrity and character, right up to the minute those things are outweighed by speed, size or arm strength.

Recently, Garrett was asked by a gaggle of reporters what he seeks in new Cowboys. “Personal character and integrity,” he said. But what of players with checkered pasts? Garrett replied that he’s most interested in “where [the player] is right now.” “There’s always a grey area,” he said.

Apparently, the “grey area” is whether or not a guy can play.

Image from sportscourtmedia.com