Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant is "in a dark place in his life," but he's determined to move on after being named in two lawsuits seeking more than $860,000 for purchases of jewelry, sporting-event tickets and cash advances, his adviser, David Wells, said Wednesday.
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Wells, a co-defendent in one of the suits, joined NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders on the "Ben & Skin Show" on ESPN 103.3 FM to discuss Bryant's state of mind in the aftermath of the news and to explain his role in the receiver's life.
"I talked to him yesterday, and he wants to get past this," Wells said. "He wants to get all these deals past him and get closure.
"He's in a dark place in his life. And Deion will tell you, until you find that light, you're going to continue to be in a dark place."
According to the lawsuits -- one filed by a Dallas-area jeweler and ticket broker and another by a New York company -- Bryant received at least nine watches and numerous other diamond-packed charms, rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces through a line of credit set up by Wells. In addition, Bryant also received Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks playoff tickets and at least $35,000 in cash.
"We'll get them all settled and dealt with," Wells said. "We want to move on, that's what we want to do. We're working on it."
Bryant and Wells signed 17 receipts from January 2009 to July 2010, one of the lawsuits said. The longest wait between purchases was 2½ months.
The bills ranged from $15,500 to $71,500, although Bryant also rang up $94,000 on two receipts in a single day.
Because some of the receipts date to Bryant's time at Oklahoma State, the NCAA could become involved -- again.
Bryant was suspended for much of the 2009 season, his last at Oklahoma State, because he lied to the NCAA about having had a meal with Sanders. The meal itself was OK, but the cover-up wasn't.
Bryant allegedly bought $185,500 of jewelry from Eleow Hunt, a jeweler and ticket broker from Colleyville, Texas, before he was suspended in October 2009.
"The jewelry thing, to my knowledge, that's not an NCAA violation," Wells said. "If you look at the records, look at the documents, things were bought after Dez was suspended."
The Tulsa Worldreported Tuesday that Bryant is involved in a third lawsuit, brought against him and a friend, Carl King, in January 2010, when the receiver's property manager sued him for almost $3,500 for unpaid rent and damages at a three-bedroom home he rented in Stillwater, Okla. The property management company refiled in October as monthly charges continued to accrue.
Bryce Campbell, the manager of Jim Campbell Property Management, the plaintiff in the case, told the newspaper that Bryant's lawyers told his company that if the case was dropped, the leasing office would receive a check within two weeks. Court records show the case was dropped in December.
"We never received anything, and that's been months ago," Campbell told the World.
