O'Connor: Fans must give Jerry Jones a wake-up call on Greg Hardy

ByIAN O'CONNOR
November 7, 2015, 9:27 PM

— -- If you assumed Jerry Jones would finally surrender in the name of common decency and fire Greg Hardy by the midnight hour, you were sadly mistaken. The owner of the Dallas Cowboys doubled down Friday night by releasing a statement in support of the unsupportable, saying his organization took domestic violence seriously ... just not seriously enough to start looking for someone else to hit the quarterback.

"We have given Greg a second chance," Jones said in his statement. "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."

Yes, Jerry Jones was standing by his man despite Deadspin's publication of dozens of photos showing the injuries suffered last year by Hardy's former girlfriend, Nicole Holder -- sickening bruises all over her body. Hardy was found guilty of domestic violence by a North Carolina judge, but the player's appeal before a jury was never heard and the case was dismissed after Holder stopped cooperating with prosecutors; she reportedly reached a financial settlement with Hardy.

Of course, the blame-game default position would amount to an all-out blitz of Roger Goodell for allowing Hardy back into the league. Goodell has gotten so many things wrong it's actually hard to identify when he's gotten something right. But upon reviewing the photos of a beaten Holder, at least the commissioner suspended Hardy for 10 games this season after the pass-rusher spent 15 games on paid leave last year.

The NFL Players Association and its executive director, DeMaurice Smith, made the mistake of believing every dues-paying member is worth fighting for, and Harold Henderson, arbitrator, made the appalling decision that a 10-game ban was "simply too much" for Hardy, as in six games too many.

Those men should have a hard time sleeping for a while after Deadspin delivered those photos to the public and shed new light on an assault so violent -- Holder accused Hardy of throwing her against a bathtub wall, pulling her out by her hair and throwing her onto a futon covered in assault rifles before strangling her with both hands -- that the accuser told the man choking her, "Kill me so I don't have to." But Jones is the one who deemed Hardy worthy of employment and another big, fat paycheck. Jones is the one who said all along the Cowboys did the necessary homework on Hardy, and then had the audacity to tell HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" that the defensive end "might not have been convicted because he didn't do it."

As much as the photos have exposed Hardy for what he appears to be -- a 6-foot-4, 279-pound coward -- this case has exposed Jones as the worst owner in the post-Donald Sterling world of major professional sports, one level above (or below) Daniel Snyder. This has nothing to do with the fact the Cowboys have won three playoff games in 20 years. No, it has everything to do with Jones' staggering lack of leadership in this case.

Hardy used his reinstatement as an opportunity to objectify Tom Brady's wife, and what does Jones do? He tells SI.com he thinks Brady's wife is hot, too.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett reprimands Hardy and warns him to better represent the organization, and Hardy later responds by provoking a physical confrontation with a coach during a loss to the New York Giants, and what does Jones do? He calls Hardy "one of the real leaders on this team," encourages him to continue "motivating or pushing any part of the football team," and talks about signing him to a long-term deal.

Meanwhile, Hardy never once expressed the kind of contrition Ray Rice ultimately expressed over the Atlantic City elevator knockout of the woman who would become his wife. Rice can't find an NFL team to take him because he started to fade like most running backs do, and because his punch was caught on camera. Hardy? He still had the requisite motor at his position, and, until Friday, there was no visual evidence of the alleged attack made public, two facts compelling the Cowboys to get in the game.

"We do not condone domestic violence," Jones said in his statement Friday night. "We entered into the agreement with Greg fully understanding that there would be scrutiny and criticism."

But Jones didn't know these photos would ever be seen by his paying customers. He said in the statement he didn't have access to the photos before making the decision to hire Hardy, yet conceded he was "aware of the serious nature of this incident."

What, exactly, did Jones think domestic violence looked like?

Just as Goodell should have imagined what was in the second Rice video after seeing Rice drag his unconscious fiancée face-first out of the elevator in the first video, Jones should have pictured the damage done to a woman who thought she was about to die.

Remember, Jones said the Cowboys did their due diligence and then some on Hardy. And then he decided the Cowboys might have been one pass-rusher away from their first Super Bowl in a very long time.

By protecting and enabling Hardy at every turn, Jones has sent a message to players that they can still find a high-paying job in the NFL after battering a woman and threatening her life. This just isn't good enough. His position can't go unchallenged.

The right-minded Cowboys fans and sponsors such as AT&T and American Airlines have to let Jones know he has gone too far this time and needs to release Hardy immediately. They need to apply the only type of pressure Jones respects -- financial pressure. They need to warn Jones they will stop giving him their business unless he fields a team that offers no sanctuary for a man such as Greg Hardy.

They need to show the owner of the Dallas Cowboys he'd better never cut another corner on something as deadly serious as this.