The Dallas Cowboys would like Greg Hardy to keep a lower profile on social media. This could prove difficult for the defensive end.
On Friday, a Panthers fan tweeted a photo of Kelvin Benjamin and second-round pick Devin Funchess, describing the new teammates as "The Twin Towers." Hardy replied to the tweet: "didn't the twin towers get blown up lol."
9/11 bits still not slaying in 2015. Hardy later apologized and deleted his tweet, but his comments caught the attention of important figures with his new team.
"We try to emphasize that to our guys. 'Distinguish yourself with your play, not with what you say,' is something we talk about all the time," Jason Garrett said Sunday at AT&T Stadium, via ESPN.com. "That's just another medium that we have to address. Some guys just need reinforcement one way or the other when they reach out and do some of those things. It's all a learning process. None of us are perfect so we're just trying to address it as these things come up."
Cowboys COO Stephen Jones was more pointed in his criticism.
"He's under a microscope. He's got to understand that," Jones said, via The Dallas Morning News. "He's a Dallas Cowboy and he came in here under some less than perfect conditions and a lot is expected. So I think he is going to learn and do better as we move forward."
One can assume Hardy and Cowboys officials communicated privately as well. Hardy tweeted a farewell to his 12,600 followers on Sunday, though he has spent the subsequent hours retweeting pro-Hardy sentiments.
Hardy has been suspended 10 games for conduct detrimental to the league in a connection with a domestic violence incident last May. He has appealed the decision.
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