For Dez Bryant, the hardest part of Sunday afternoon was knowing who was watching. The former Dallas Cowboys receiver alleged that a Southlake, Texas, police officer pointed a gun at him in front of his two daughters after a traffic dispute. It left Bryant handcuffed in a restaurant parking lot and cited for assault by contact.
Bryant gave his account and shared video of the scene in an interview with OutKick published Monday. Meanwhile, several fans have rallied around the three-time Pro Bowler, though not everyone thinks he handled the moment well.
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NFL Fans React as Dez Bryant Recounts the Traffic Dispute That Ended in Handcuffs
Bryant said two men in separate vehicles cut him off and kept driving recklessly as they pulled into the lot of a Mexican restaurant on East Southlake Boulevard, where he was also headed. He admitted swearing when he told them to stop. He said an argument with one of the men followed, and that the man threatened to shoot him.
Bryant said the man "never drew a gun" but pulled out his phone to record him, and he knocked it out of the man's hand. When the man said he would call the cops, Bryant said he "encouraged" him, believing officers would look into the alleged threat. Instead, Bryant said, an officer who responded drew a gun and ordered all three men to the ground.
Asked what he wants from law enforcement going forward, Bryant answered with a plea: "Treat everybody fair. Treat everybody fair. Treat everybody with respect."
Meanwhile, Bryant's girlfriend pulled up with his daughters and filmed from her car as officers handcuffed the men. "I was really more so concerned about my children, you know, looking at their dad being on the ground with a gun pointed at me," Bryant said. He added that the officers put him in a patrol car and released him with a citation, while the other men were allowed to leave.
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Bryant also alleged that officers relied on the other man's phone recording without digging into what led up to it. "I felt like it was very one-sided," he said, adding that an officer told him he had to be "the bigger person."
Later on, he also posted an emotional tweet where he noted
, "I don't understand why the officer got out of the car and pointed a rifle directly at me."
Several fans sided with Bryant and his family. One wrote, "No one deserves that treatment when they're simply trying to live their life."
Another fan was just as firmly in his corner, writing, "I'm with Dez Bryant 100%."
A third fan took aim at the department: "Please sue that department bc the behavior will continue till someone does something about it (not violently) but through legal measures."
Not every fan saw it that way.
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Bryant has described his actions as self-defense, but one fan echoed the advice Bryant says the officer gave him, writing, "If you have your kids in the car then it's best to be the bigger person. Knocking the phone out of the other driver's hand wasn't smart."
One more fan took a practical lesson from it all: "Gotta get a camera on your vehicle."
Meanwhile, in a news release, Southlake police spokesman Capt. Blas Hernandez said several 911 callers described a fight among multiple people and a possible weapon, so officers pulled up with guns drawn as a precaution. Hernandez said officers recovered no guns from the men they detained.
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Bryant said he has asked officers to review surveillance footage from the area, including any video of the driving that started the dispute. He must appear in Southlake Municipal Court on or before Nov. 20 at 5 p.m.
Police list the citation as a Class C misdemeanor, which under Texas law carries a fine of up to $500.
This article originally appeared on
Pro Football Network
.
