When the Dallas Cowboys picked Sam Williams, they just had to ignore those red flags

Not long after the Dallas Cowboys “stole” Sam Williams in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Father Flanagan professed there was nothing to worry about.

“We thoroughly investigated those allegations and are completely satisfied that those are well within our comfort level,” said Cowboys owner/GM and team president, Pro Football Hall of Famer Mr. Jerry Jones after his team selected the Ole Miss defensive end.

“Those allegations” around Williams were charges of sexual battery in July of 2020. He was reinstated to his team two months later, after the charge was dropped.

When Williams was picked by the Cowboys, he told the local media that night, “It was the past. Obviously, I didn’t do anything. It’s a new life and a new start ahead of me in a new area with great coaches and teammates. I got another shot at life. That is not me. That is not the person I am.”

The Cowboys kept saying Williams had “seen the light” after welcoming a child into his life.

Maybe that light was a mix of green/yellow/red.

In December of 2022, Williams was cited for reckless driving after he crashed his car in Plano. Both he and the driver of the other car were not seriously injured.

Williams’ car was trashed, he did suffer a concussion, and missed a Cowboys game for precautionary reasons.

Now it’s August of 2023, and Mr. Williams has spent more quality time with local law enforcement.

He was busted on Sunday night in Frisco for possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful carrying of a weapon.

According to people familiar with the charge, Sam I Am had a small amount of weed.

Make this make sense: In Texas, weed is illegal but kids can take their AR-15 to preschool.

Shouldn’t Sam receive some type of an award at the next Frisco city council meeting for carrying a firearm?

He must have had an AK-47, maybe a bazooka, in the front seat to receive a citation.

Don’t expect much of anything to come of Williams’ latest run in with the local police.

In his first season and now second training camp with the team, Williams has shown talent and ability to become a productive NFL pass rusher.

It’s in there.

Not so sure about the rest.

Jerry insisted that the team had done their homework on Williams, and that this young man was not going to be problem.

“You have a lot more than just Sam wanting him to be a great NFL and Cowboy football player,” Jones said the night Cowboys picked Williams. “He’s got a lot of great people that are on his team that are really, high-quality people. Substantive people. You’re getting a really good package with Sam, in my mind.”

This is what the Cowboys saw: A first-round talent.

This is what the Cowboys saw but did not want to acknowledge: Williams was a first-round talent who fell to the second round, and the 56th pick, because of “character” issues.

Even as Jerry has slowed down from his inner desire to select “Lucifer Antichrist, outside linebacker, Purdue University,” every now then he reminds us all who runs the Dallas Cowboys.

Pacman Jones. Tank Johnson. Greg Hardy. Randy Gregory. Jaylon Smith. Bossman Fat. Sam Williams.

Jerry has more money than God and all of God’s children, and sometimes he just can’t help himself but to fall for that deal on Amazon Prime Day, even if the package comes with a warning label that reads, “DO NOT TOUCH.”

The Cowboys convinced themselves Sam Williams “got it,” so they selected a talented player who clearly does not quite “get it.”

He doesn’t quite get people are watching.

He doesn’t quite get that a lot of people need him to be there, and to play well, from his teammates and coaches to family and friends.

He doesn’t quite get that he can’t “be there” if he keeps having these meet ‘n’ greets with the law.

He doesn’t quite get that the Cowboys are as patient as any organization in professional sports, but even Jerry has his limits.

The Cowboys can only blame themselves for having to deal with this latest headache, and only hope that maybe this trend somehow stops.

The real fear is that if/when there is a next time, it will be something even bigger.

The signs were there this was all possible, and they ignored all of them.

Just as they did with Pacman, Hardy, Gregory, Bossman and the rest.