In case you've been living under a rock, it seems yet another Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman has been accused of driving while intoxicated as Jay Ratliff was arrested early Tuesday morning after hitting an 18-wheeler on 114 in Grapevine.
First off, this is pretty alarming considering his teammate and fellow defensive lineman, Josh Brent, is facing charges of intoxication manslaughter after the death of his teammate, Jerry Brown, following an accident on 114. You'd like to think Ratliff would be smarter than to do this so soon after he and his teammates' worlds were rocked by Brent's accident.
On a less serious note, it also has to signal the end of Ratliff's time in Dallas, doesn't it?
The Cowboys were not real pleased, most notably owner Jerry Jones, with Ratliff in 2012 after he played just a handful of games, and doing so with declining performance. He's 31 years old, clearly on the downside of his career, and is a perfect target for the chopping block, especially with the Cowboys once again changing schemes to a 4-3 defense under new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.
Jones and Ratliff reportedly got into a heated argument in the locker room after a game when Jones questioned Ratliff about whether he would return from his injury sooner.
But Jones told ESPN Dallas that the argument won't have any bearing on Ratliff's future with the team.
"As far as I'm concerned, he is outstanding, he has given everything he's ever had to the Dallas Cowboys," Jones said. "With me, any of that emotion that was involved between us is only reflected back on many times that we've had in our own way some emotional time with each other. And it in no way before was ever contentious.
"So when you've got the kind of background we've got together, then if you have a moment that you might not have been on the same page, that's like father-son, that's like family, that's like all that. That's forgotten when you know each other has your best interests at heart. We both know that."
But because of Ratliff's declining play and advancing age, coupled with this incident, it just seems too logical that the Cowboys would part ways with the veteran defensive lineman, especially after the Brent incident and the way public backlash, right or wrong, the Cowboys took for their support of Brent.
