A Remarkable Act of Forgiveness

God forbid anyone of us has to walk in these shoes, but the family and mother of former Cowboys practice squad player Jerry Brown has left a series of giant footprints of humanity that hopefully others can follow.

It would have been easy to tell Josh Brent - considered by police on the scene as having recklessly killed his friend by driving drunk and at an alarming rate of speed - to simply stay away from the memorial.

But Brown's mother and family, did not.

They invited him to sit alongside, to say their goodbyes in person, one last time, together.

"I was upset, but I realized that our youth today are young and stupid, and we were all once that age, and we've all done things we're not proud of," Jackson said on Monday's "Piers Morgan Tonight" show on CNN. "I realized that everyone thinks they're invincible, and everyone thinks, 'it's not going to happen to me.' I know Josh Brent, and he's been part of our family since Jerry went to the University of Illinois -- all I can do is to pray for him and his family. I know [Brent] is hurting just as much as we are, because [he] and Jerry were like brothers."
I call it a remarkably humane act, in a sports world where we see less and less of that all the time.

Now, the awkward bouncing football is for the league and Roger Goodell to stumble after and corral. What do you do with a still active player like Brent? He hasn't been convicted of any crime (yet) but it sure doesn't look good. The league talks all the time about the precious "image" of The Shield.

With an already-planned league meeting scheduled for Wednesday in Irving, Texas, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said there is no plan for commissioner Roger Goodell to meet with Brent. 

Aiello said Brent's status on the Cowboys' roster will be "clarified soon." Brent was at the Cowboys' complex on Monday and received medical attention and met with coach Jason Garrett.

The league has "no issue" with Brent being at team facilities, Aiello said.


It would be easy to simply IR him and say he's not over his minor injuries from the crash itself.

But doesn't the league need to send a stronger, swifter statement? Does the league ever want to get over the image that it coddles and excuses the criminal element that exists among it's rank?

Of course, here's the most stunning nugget of the day.

Jerry Jones, the Cowboys' owner, got into a car without speaking to the media. 

Wow. Must have been agonizing.