Dallas Cowboys: It’s time to assign ‘babysitter’ for Ezekiel Elliott

It may be time for Dallas Cowboys to give Ezekiel Elliott the ‘Pacman Treatment’ and assign some handlers to keep their star player out of further trouble

Ezekiel Elliott found himself in trouble again, reminding everyone how fragile this season is for the Dallas Cowboys. While the incident in question appears to be minor (link here), it may be enough for a trigger happy commissioner to issue punishment.

Avoiding questionable incidents altogether appears to be the best course of action. And the best way to ensure that is by surrounding the 23-year-old back with full-time babysitters.

In 2008, the Dallas Cowboys were coming off of one of their most successful seasons in franchise history (13-3). With expectations through the roof, Dallas finagled a trade that brought Adam “Pacman” Jones to town.

The former top-10 draft pick came with a train car of baggage. He’d been involved in 12 documented incidents and arrested six different occasions. The Cowboys immediately surrounded him with a team of bodyguards (aka babysitters) to avoid future incidents.

Comparatively, Jones makes Zeke look like a choir boy. But Pacman was just a complementary piece. He wasn’t the cornerstone that Zeke is. If Pacman didn’t pan out, it was no big deal. If something happens to Zeke, the wheels could potentially fall off this bus (unless, of course, the Dallas Cowboys alter their offensive approach to be less run-heavy)

According to the video, Zeke looks fairly inebriated. He’s staggering about in the wee hours of the night. The incident was equal parts lean and drunken teeter. As I watched I couldn’t but feel shocked he’s out there on the street, putting himself at risk like that.

This isn’t a holier than thou kinda thing. When I was in my early 20s I had plenty of those nights. But I wasn’t a high profile target. I also wasn’t facing a suspension from work for the slightest incident.

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The health of a billion dollar franchise depends on Zeke. It’s time the Dallas Cowboys get Zeke a babysitter to keep him out of highly-preventable situations like this.

Call it a “handler”, a “body guard”, or a “babysitter” – it doesn’t matter. But someone with a clear mind should be with Zeke at all times. He’s too important to this franchise to be allowed to run amuck like this.

The NFL allows teams to offer extra resources to players without violating the salary cap (this isn’t the death grip of the NCAA here). There would be no problem deploying a team of babysitters to keep an eye on Zeke and protecting the NFL badge.

After another avoidable incident, it’s time for the Dallas Cowboys to change their approach with Ezekiel Elliott. With a suspension waiting around every corner and a poor track record of decision-making on his record, it’s clear Zeke needs a babysitter.

• Published on 05/26/2019 at 12:00 PM
• Last updated at 05/24/2019 at 06:55 AM