The Dallas Cowboys are embroiled in a lot of controversies right now when it comes to their treatment of players. At the end of the day, it seems the more talented players are allowed to get into trouble without worry of retribution by the Cowboys but role players can be waived at any time – even if the player is innocent of what they are accused of. That happened recently with star running back Ezekiel Elliott and kick returner Lucky Whitehead, the latter who was waived by the Cowboys before training camp started.
Lucky Whitehead
The Lucky Whitehead situation is one that was very unlucky for the former Dallas Cowboys kick returner.
Someone in Virginia was arrested for stealing $40 worth of items from a store and had no ID on him. When the police asked his name, he told them it was Lucky Whitehead. When this individual did not show up for his court hearing, an arrest warrant was issued for Whitehead.
Instead of waiting to see what was going on, the Dallas Cowboys decided to go ahead and cut Lucky Whitehead and said it was due to a series of issues with the player. Well, the truth came out and it turned out that Lucky was not the person arrested and the police issued him an apology. As a result, Whitehead was innocent of doing anything wrong but was now out of a job because he was not a major star for the Cowboys, who said they were moving on.
Last year, the Dallas Cowboys called the police to do a welfare check on Lucky Whitehead. One week ago, Whitehead claimed on social media that someone kidnapped his dog and wanted $20,000 for its return – something Jason Garrett had to answer questions over. The Cowboys just used this as an excuse to cut ties with a troubled player.
Ezekiel Elliott
Now, what Lucky Whitehead didn’t do was allegedly beat a woman up or punch a man in the face in a bar. That is what Ezekiel Elliott was accused of. The difference between Elliott and Whitehead is that Ezekiel is a star for the Dallas Cowboys – an All-Pro star who will be one of the top running backs in 2017. Instead of punishing Elliott, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that he believes in Ezekiel’s innocence – saying this right before waiving Whitehead, who actually was innocent.
So, is it shocking that the Dallas Cowboys are standing by Ezekiel Elliott at all costs but waived Lucky Whitehead before the police could even announce their mistake? Of course not. Whitehead was a kick returner and that is what Dallas drafted Ryan Switzer to do in the 2017 NFL Draft. Whitehead was expendable and that meant that the Cowboys could make an example of him. It is the difference between being a star and being a role player.
