Business hours have come and gone on Thursday, the day many predicted that the NFL Lockout would come to an end. There’s still time for the owners to meet and ratify a new collective bargaining agreement before shutting things down for the day though as both parties have worked well into the evening in recent days to try to hammer out the final details of a deal before any more time passes.
Dez Bryant, second-year wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, is one guy who can’t wait for the lockout to be lifted. Bryant has taken flak in the media all offseason — some of it deserved, most of it undeserved. Something tells me that once Bryant gets back on the gridiron and is making plays, he’ll stop being the subject of so much critique and commentary.
On Wednesday, Bryant joined Ben & Skin on ESPN Radio Dallas to talk about his long offseason, his eagerness to get back to work with the ’Boys, and the status of his ankle as he and other players around the league await word about the lockout.
Here’s a few excerpts from the interview (transcription via: Sports Radio Interviews).
How are you feeling health wise?
“I feel great. In my honest opinion I think that my ankle is fine, but whenever the lockout is over with I am going to go in and let Jim [Maurer] look at my ankle and see how it is and I am going to go from there.”
Are you taking the ankle slow or going full speed if the lockout were to be lifted?
“Like I said in my opinion I feel I can roll with it now, but if Jim [Maurer] says to take it slow I am going to take it slow. If it’s up to me I am going full speed. I only know one speed and that is full speed.”
Do you find it interesting that everyone is trying to find out everything that is going on with you off the field and get in your business? Is it a nuisance to you?
“Coming in I am one of those guys that I’m not going to lie I hate the after session [with the media]. I hate it. Now I look at is as people are going to say whatever they want to say. I just gotta learn with what I feel like saying that I have to keep moving forward as long as possible. The true fans around me that will see me doing the positive things and that’s the only thing that matters.”