It didn't take long for Greg Hardy to make news as a member of the Dallas Cowboys for something other than his play on the field.
In his second game back from suspension, Hardy entered the team's special teams huddle in the fourth quarter and appeared to slap the clipboard of special teams coach Rich Bisaccia, according to a video that NBC aired Sunday night. In the video, Bisaccia then pushed Hardy away from him while they exchanged words.
"Well, no, he wanted to get in there and kind of get after some of the guys a little bit, maybe get them fired up," Bisaccia said after the game via the Dallas Morning News. "It was just not the right time. It's really not an issue. I just had to communicate what we were going to do next on the return, so I just really wanted him to move on so we could get going."
Cowboys safety Danny McCray said that Hardy berated some of his teammates and even "pushed" McCray a little.
"Greg Hardy is such a passionate player. He's all over the place. He's in the defensive huddle, the offensive huddle, and today he made our special teams huddle. I was a little surprised he was in there," McCray said according to the Associated Press. "I didn't realize who it was. Then I realized it was Greg. He was showing his passion that we gave up the lead and we needed to fix it.
"It's football. Those guys love each other, and we'll get in the meetings tomorrow and talk it over. We'll see what the coach says about it. (Hardy) was just trying to get us fired up."
Many Cowboys players, including Dez Bryant, tried to calm Hardy down on the sideline. After the game, the Cowboys universally supported his approach.
"He's, of course, one of the real leaders on this team and he earns it and he earns it with respect from all of his teammates," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said of Hardy via USA Today. "That's the kind of thing that inspires a football team."
Coach Jason Garrett supported Hardy as well.
"I was standing right there," Garrett said. "To be a good football player and a good football team, you have to have passion and put it all out there. Sometimes in a game, things don't go well and you have a response. A pro football coach and a pro football team understand that those things happen. You want the guys with passion."
Hardy, meanwhile, had little to say to the media. His response to every question asked Sunday included some variation of: "No comment. Next question."
