Bryant supports former teammate Blackmon
IRVING, Texas — Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant admitted on Wednesday that he has been so busy with organized team activities that he hasn't found time to reach out to his friend Justin Blackmon.
Blackmon, the fifth overall pick in this year's NFL draft, was arrested Sunday on an aggravated DUI charge in Oklahoma. The former Oklahoma State standout had three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system, according to authorities.
"He's a great guy," Bryant said of Blackmon. "If you knew him, you'd be like, 'I can't believe it.' It's just a lesson that he's going to have to learn. I feel like he's going to get through it.
"I know he is, just because of the type of guy he is. I wish the best for him, and I know he's going to come through and bounce back and do what he needs to do."
Blackmon was previously arrested in 2010 on a misdemeanor DUI charge after officers caught him speeding in Carrollton while driving home from a Monday Night Football game between the Cowboys and New York Giants at Cowboys Stadium.
Although Bryant has been given a criminal trespass warning at a Dallas mall and faced several lawsuits stemming from unpaid loans, he doesn't have a criminal record. Leading up to April's draft, several analysts compared the two Oklahoma State wide receivers. No one was more critical of Bryant in those comparisons than Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon.
"He's like Dez Bryant with all of his brain cells," Moon said of Blackmon in a radio interview with Seattle's KIRO-AM 710 in January. "He's a guy that has all those skills that Dez Bryant has, but he's not the knucklehead that Dez Bryant has turned out to be with Dallas. And a much better route runner than Dez Bryant is, but a very tremendous talent."
Asked Wednesday about the transition from college to the NFL, Bryant specifically mentioned decision-making and the people a player surrounds themselves with.
"Some guys make the right decisions, some guys make the wrong ones," Bryant said. "When you make a wrong decision it's your choice if you want to learn from it or not."
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