LANCASTER – Controversy is swirling around Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant at a time when the team's front office has to decide whether to offer him a long-term contract.
Two national NFL reporters, Adam Schefter of ESPN and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, went on radio shows and claimed there was a mysterious video involving Bryant involved in some type of misdeeds. Neither reporter had seen the video or could confirm the rumor, yet it set off speculation and brought increased scrutiny on incidents from the player's past.
Thursday, the DeSoto Police Department released a video tape shot in July 2012 from a police officer's body camera as they interviewed Bryant's mother, who called them after an altercation with him.
In the tape she tells officers, "Out of nowhere, he just went into a rage."
For the first time, we hear Dez Bryant's mother, Angela, describe what she said happened that day.
"He grabbed my shirt, pulled his cap off and hit me in the face with his cap, and I pushed him off me and he grabbed my shirt. Tore it off and kept grabbing on me."
His mother also alludes to a pattern of violence committed by the Cowboys wide receiver.
"I said, 'Dez, what you are doing is wrong. This is what everyone has been talking about, all this stuff and it's going to get you in trouble,'" Angela Bryant told police. "He said, 'I don't care,' and he grabs me."
Bryant later agreed to counseling and to stay out of trouble for a year, and received no NFL discipline for the incident.
But his mother isn't the only one who alleges a history of abuse by Bryant. In documents obtained by News 8, his long-time girlfriend, Ilene Nash said the same thing.
A lawsuit was filed in September 2012 in a Bell County custody case between Nash and Bryant.
The suit states, "The respondent has a history or pattern of committing family violence during the two-year period preceding the date of filing of this lawsuit." And it states, "Petitioner requests the court to deny respondent accesses to the child."
Nash requested the lawsuit be dropped two years later.
Lancaster police also released a report Thursday from an incident in 2011 at a Wal-Mart where Nash was involved in a dispute with a man.
The report says, "An unknown person reported seeing a black female being dragged from one vehicle to another vehicle by a black male. The vehicle was registered to a Desmond Bryant out of DeSoto."
By the time police arrived, Nash was gone, but later returned with Bryant to the Wal-Mart.
She told police the dispute did not involve Bryant, but another man. No charges were filed.
All three of the situations have been settled for years, but the rumors have led to the release of documents in the older cases.
Bryant hasn't addressed any of the latest releases, but sent out a tweet saying, "I need to get me a real raw uncut tv show or something. I can't continue to get betrayed like this."
Bryant, the Dallas Cowboys, his attorney, Royce West, and the NFL all declined to comment.
