DALLAS — Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy has been a lightning rod since he arrived in North Texas.
Friday, the heat was turned up further by a Deadspin article complete with pictures of Hardy's ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder. The images show bruises and injuries she allegedly sustained at the hands of Hardy.
In the published pictures, bruises can be seen up and down Holder's back, arms, and even feet, in addition to a large bruise under her chin. The images -- 47 of them -- show in graphic detail what occurred on May 13, 2014. Holder is severely bruised in some places. In some of the photos, Hardy is pictured. They're entitled "Photo showing injury to Hardy's face."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones released a statement Friday night after the story and accompanying photos spread far and wide through social media.
"While we did not have access to the photos that became public today, we were and are aware of the serious nature of this incident," Jones said. "We as an organization take this very seriously. We do not condone domestic violence. We entered into the agreement with Greg fully understanding that there would be scrutiny and criticism. We have given Greg a second chance. He is a member of our team and someone who is grateful for the opportunity he has been given to move forward with his life and his career."
Those who stand up against domestic violence say this type of behavior shouldn't be tolerated at any level.
"Those pictures represent what the women that we see here at Genesis every year," said Bianca Jackson of the Genesis Women's Shelter. "It's the face and truth of domestic violence."
Jackson said it shouldn't be "business as usual" after behavior like that described in the Deadspin report.
"It doesn't matter where the abuser works or what he does for a living," she said.
Hardy joined the Cowboys this past off-season after being jettisoned by the Carolina Panthers. Hardy was suspended 10 games by the NFL before an independent arbitrator ruled that the number was "too much of an increase" over previous punishment for similar offenses, and reduced the suspension to four games.
The Cowboys have maintained that they've done their due diligence on Hardy, researching everything that happened with the domestic violence incident.
During an interview with HBO Sports earlier this year, Jones defended bringing Hardy on the team.
"We really did our homework and our investigation, and the facts are, he was not convicted," Jones said.
"He was not convicted because the girlfriend didn't show up during appeal," HBO Sports' Bernard Goldberg said.
Jones replied, "You could say that, but he might have been not convicted, because he didn't do it."
Coach Jason Garrett echoed his boss back in March.
"We did an exhaustive research on him — tremendous due diligence on him all the way back to high school," Garrett said.
Clearly they've determined that Hardy has served his punishment, and is worthy of playing on Sundays.
Greg Hardy was in the Cowboys locker room Friday and refused to comment on the pictures.
Below are some of the images released by police and published by Deadspin. Many are disturbing and hard to look at. Deadspin granted News 8 permission to use the photos.
News 8's Rebecca Lopez contributed to this story.
