I’ve said many a time on Ocho Live that to win a Super Bowl… you have to get lucky.
Obviously you have to be very good – the best, by definition – and win a bunch of games, but the truth of the matter is that winning in the NFL is somewhat predicated on getting lucky. Perhaps nobody knows this better than the Dallas Cowboys who suffered a mighty bit of misfortune in 2015 that saw that season fall completely apart before it really began.
One of the key pieces that was supposed to make 2015 a year to remember was 2nd Round Draftee Randy Gregory. The Cowboys took the former Nebraska Defensive End with the 60th Overall Pick in hopes that the off-the-field troubles he had, which caused him to fall as far as he did, were behind him.
Since we last saw young Randy (Week 17 of 2015), a whole lot has happened. He has failed/missed multiple drug tests and has yet to see the field in 2016. On the Friday before the Cowboys traveled to Pittsburgh word began to rumble league-wide that Randy Gregory had yet another infraction, and the future of his career was well in-doubt.
That has all seemingly been swept under the rug to a degree as Randy Gregory has officially returned to Dallas Cowboys practice. That’s right… time to party.
Guess who's back?
Practice report: https://t.co/c7kBB4fkWx pic.twitter.com/xZ6W4RSIy0
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 22, 2016
This is the first time that Randy Gregory is practicing since OTAs all the way back in May, which leads us to wonder… what can we really expect from him?
It’s unknown whether or not Randy will play during this season’s Monday Night Football finale when the Cowboys host the Lions the day after Christmas, but it is universally acknowledged that his presence as a football player is better than his absence.
All signs pointed to the Cowboys being geniuses during the 2015 season opener against the Giants when we saw Randy Gregory wreaking all kinds of havoc. Unfortunately he suffered a high ankle sprain and missed a good chunk of time after that small glimmer of hope.
That was a long time ago, but it’s hard to believe that Randy isn’t already one of the more-talented rushmen on the current Cowboys. Dallas is dealing with injuries to Tyrone Crawford and DeMarcus Lawrence currently, and while David Irving had another coming out party against the Buccaneers… help is always needed. The frustrating thing about Randy Gregory’s situation – if you want to call it that – is the ambiguity circling it, thanks to the NFL.
Randy Gregory’s appeal of his year-long suspension won’t be until Jan — at the earliest. He’ll almost certainly play into playoffs #Cowboys
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 22, 2016
Randy Gregory is in fact appealing the year-long suspension from the infraction that occurred shortly before the Cowboys traveled to Pittsburgh, but if the appeal isn’t happening until January then he’s currently allowed to play. As awesome as this seemingly is, what if the appeal doesn’t go his way? Would some type of penalty then be enforced during the middle of January and the Cowboys’ playoff run? The NFL is a mess.
One of the physical details that made Randy Gregory such a top prospect is the length of his arms. He has a physical ability to separate himself from opposing tackles that allow him to rush the quarterback. It’s been a very long time since Randy Gregory played and as a result we need to seriously manage our expectations of him, but there does seem to be some poetry to the fact that his first two career games were against the Giants and those are the 2016 Cowboys’ lone losses.
If the Cowboys want to carry Randy Gregory going forward they will have until 3pm CT Monday to make this decision.
The Cowboys have until 3 p.m. CT Monday to add Randy Gregory to 53-man roster in order to play against Detroit. He's on exempt list now.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) December 22, 2016
The best thing we can all do regarding the Randy Gregory situation is to not expect much. Randy Gregory is icing on top of the cake 2016 has baked for us, let’s hope it’s a good flavor.
