Haze of old

Rookies in pro sports routinely have to put up with a lot of crap from the veterans on the team. Call it initiation, a rite of passage, hazing. It can include forcing the rooks to wear silly clothes to the team facility, taping them to goalposts or making them carry a vet’s pads off the practice field.

Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant, however, has no interest in such tradition. After practice on Sunday, the wide receiver from Oklahoma State was commanded to take Roy Williams’ pads from the field. Bryant refused and now, for some reason, the football world is aghast.

Veterans and former players from other teams are lambasting Bryant for his insubordination, and Williams promised there will be consequences.

But Bryant deserves some credit for taking a stand against this archaic, idiotic, inane practice. When is this frat boy garbage going to end?

Professional athletes (“professional” being a key word) shouldn’t act like high school seniors picking on freshmen. They ought to act professionally.

Perhaps if a more respected Cowboys veteran — Tony Romo, Marion Barber, DeMarcus Ware, etc. — had asked Bryan to carry his pads, he would have. But Bryant shouldn’t have to obey a guy that’s going to be behind him on the depth chart when the season opens.

Bryant’s refusal doesn’t imply that he’s a bad teammate or has an attitude problem or doesn’t respect his NFL elders. For those who didn’t get the message the first time, Bryant put it into words on Sunday

“I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads,” he told reporters.

I, for one, hope other rookies follow suit.