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Pad Carrying: Humbling, Not Hazing

playerpress.com Written by playerpress.com, Tuesday August 03 2010
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Note to Dez Bryant: Carrying extra shoulder pads can be a fashion statement as well as a help to your teammates.

 

After practice on Sunday at Miami Dolphins training camp, Dolphins rookie Travis Ivey walked to the locker room with three sets of shoulder pads on his shoulders, showcasing a new look to the age-old rookie hazing ritual that Bryant shunned at Cowboys camp last week.

 

Ivey, whose head could barely be seen above the stacks of shoulder pads, said, “[The veterans] don't always make me do it every day, but we took our pads off, so I'm pretty sure they don't want to pick them up again.I don't blame them. I wouldn't pick mine back up either. That's just what you're supposed to do. They just left it out there so somebody's supposed to pick them up."

 

That approach was in sharp contrast to Bryant’s. The first-round pick ignored the NFL hazing tradition after three hours in the league, refusing to carry the pads of veteran teammate Roy Williams and then suffering a backlash from the media and fans.

 

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew recently explained to Dan Patrick of ESPN that carrying pads isn't hazing.

 

"I think humbling and hazing are two different things," Jones-Drew said.  "I think carrying someone's pads is a humbling gesture.  Hazing would be if someone puts their hands on you and leaving marks. The whole Dez Bryant thing is he has to pay his dues.  When you first get a job, you have to work your way up."

 

Ivey went undrafted after his college career at Maryland and isn't expected to make the Dolphins final roster.


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