It was reported Wednesday that Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryanthas been sued for $50,000 by Endurance Capital Fund, a New York-based finance company that helps athletes and entertainers buy luxury items.
Two things jumped out about this: 1) There are -- apparently -- companies that exist primarily to help celebrities procure awesome things and 2) For a multi-millionaire, Dez Bryant sure is sued a lot for not paying his bills.
Bryant is believed to already have taken home $9 million since signing his rookie contract with Dallas before the 2010 season. Even so, the suit filed by ECF is the third debt-related legal issue Bryant has faced since being drafted. He settled two other lawsuits totaling $800,000 earlier this year.
This hasn't been overlooked by Cowboys management. Executive vice president/COO Stephen Jones said Bryant, 23, must learn "to get his hands around what he's doing off the field."
"Any time you have issues that are in the public, you wish they weren't there," Jones said Wednesday night, according to FoxSports.com. "I think most of these incidents revolve around things he did early on when he first got in the NFL. I think he's learning from that, but there are still some lingering things that probably if he had to do over again he'd do differently.
"We've obviously sat down with him on numerous occasions to give any advice we can," Jones went on. "Hopefully he'll be able to correct those things so it doesn't affect what he can accomplish on the field. If you don't clean those things up, they tend to affect your career. He understands that."
Jones said the team's concern is that Bryant's off-the-field distractions eventually could hurt his production. Bryant has 57 catches for 858 yards and nine touchdowns this season, numbers that -- while good -- certainly don't put him beyond reproach.
