The Dallas Cowboys and ConflictBy: Christina Wawrowski

The Book Subject and Article Being Analyzed From the book, Organizational Communication Approaches and

Processes, by: Katherine Miller. Chapter 9, Conflict Management Processes, Phases of Organizational Conflict.

From ESPN’s website, article written by: Todd Archer and Jean-Jacques Taylor. Posted on October 26, 2015. Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant Have Words on Sideline After DE's Special-Teams Tirade.

Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant Have Words on Sideline After DE's Special-Teams Tirade I chose this article because it is a prime example of conflict that occurs

regularly throughout the sports industry. This article was written to not only inform the public about the simple

conflict that occurred, but to show the public that acts like this are occurring and the leaders of the industry continue to allow it to happen.

After a brief overview of the article and section of the chapter chosen, I will use the phases of organizational conflict to breakdown the conflict.

The Important Individuals Involved

Greg Hardy Defensive End for the Dallas

Cowboys

Dez Bryant Wide Receiver for the Dallas

Cowboys

Danny McCray Safety for the Dallas

Cowboys

Dwayne Harris Wide Receiver and Return

Specialist for the New York Giants

Rich Bisaccia Special-Teams Coordinator

for the Dallas Cowboys

Jason Garrett Head Coach of the Dallas

Cowboys

Jerry Jones Owner and General Manager

of the Dallas Cowboys

Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant Have Words on Sideline After DE's Special-Teams Tirade It started when the Dallas Cowboy’s Special-Team’s Unit gave up a one

hundred yard kick-off return by the New York Giant’s wide receiver, Dwayne Harris, scoring the points that would later lead to the Giant’s victory over the Cowboys.

Greg Hardy did not take this lightly and went crazy on the sidelines. He first broke into the Special-Teams huddle before the next kick-off and

criticized his teammates. Hardy then moved on and got into a lively verbal altercation with Dez Bryant. Footage also showed Hardy confronting the Special-Teams Unit coach, Rich

Bisaccia, yelling in his face and swatting at the clipboard in Bisaccia’s hands.

Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant Have Words on Sideline After DE's Special-Teams Tirade Even though this behavior should be viewed as unacceptable, a few of Hardy’s

teammates, the head coach, and owner of the Dallas Cowboys backed Hardy up. Bryant was one of those individuals. A reporter got a hold of him leaving the field

and he gave this statement. "There is no issue. That's just football. People want to make nothing into something,

especially when we lose. That's just football." McCray was another one of his teammates that condoned Hardy’s actions even

though he said Hardy had pushed him when he roughly entered the huddle. "Greg Hardy is such a passionate player. He's all over the place. He's in the defensive

huddle, the offensive huddle, and today he made our special-teams huddle. I was a little surprised he was in there. ... I didn't realize who it was. Then I realized it was Greg. He was showing his passion that we gave up the lead and we needed to fix it. It's football. Those guys love each other, and we'll get in the meetings tomorrow and talk it over. We'll see what the coach says about it. Hardy was just trying to get us fired up.''

Hardy and Bryant

Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant Have Words on Sideline After DE's Special-Teams Tirade Dallas Cowboy’s head coach, Jason Garrett, thought that there was no

issue. That Hardy was just attempting to encourage the Special-Teams Unit, even though the reactions that occurred in the huddle might demonstrate otherwise. Regardless, Garrett is not at all concerned about the altercations and he proved it in this statement. "I was standing right there. To be a good football player and a good football

team, you have to have passion and put it all out there. Sometimes in a game, things don't go well and you have a response. A pro football coach and a pro football team understand that those things happen. You want the guys with passion. It was coming off the football field. That happens, you encourage guys, you try to get guys excited. You try to get guys ready for the next challenge. I believe from my vantage point, that's what he was doing.''

Hardy fighting with teammates.

Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant Have Words on Sideline After DE's Special-Teams Tirade It is the same with the owner and general manager of the Dallas

Cowboys. He didn’t even see the altercations, but from what he heard, he thinks there is no issue with what Hardy did. Even though one of the coaches had to push Hardy out of the huddle before got entangled with a few of his teammates, Jones still gave the following statement. "He's of course one of the real leaders on this team and he earns it. He earns

it with the respect from all of his teammates. That's the kind of thing that inspires. You watched him warm up out there and he was inspirational ... nothing but warming up. He was ready to play. He's just getting guys ready to play, in my view. I don't have any issue with him being involved in motivating or pushing in any part of the football team because he plays and walks the walk."

Phases of Organizational Conflict

Individuals do not abruptly go from peacefully coinciding with one another to hating each other.

Pondy advocates that there are five phases that outline organizational conflict.

Latent Conflict

Perceived Conflict

Felt Conflict

Manifest Conflict

Conflict Aftermath

Latent Conflict

This is when conflict could start to occur, but is not developed because of interrelationship and disagreement that occurs between the individuals or groups.

Perceived Conflict

This takes place when at least one individual or member of the group thinks that the situation involves interrelationship and disagreement.

Felt Conflict

This is when the individuals or group members start to think of ways to handle the conflict and decide what they would like to outcome to be.

Manifest Conflict

This is when the conflict takes place and is now completely visible. The individuals or groups communicate their beliefs and this leads to action and reaction.

Conflict Aftermath

This highlights that the conflict that has occurred can have both short and long term results. Even after the conflict gets resolved, the individuals and groups involved can still continue to be effected.

The Dallas Cowboys and Latent Conflict The conflict in this situation is between Greg Hardy and the Special-

Teams Unit and coach. I believe that latent conflict relates to the situation.

I don’t think the issue here is a compatibility problem, but more of a interdependence problem.

The sport industry is made up of each and every teammate relying on one another. The offense and defense rely on each other to do what they have to do to ensure the win. This can cause great conflict, just like it did with this situation.

Hardy believed he did what he was suppose to do and in turn relied on the Special-Teams Unit to do their job. When he felt that they failed, he got frustrated. Causing a scene and bringing conflict between them and a few other players on their team.

The Dallas Cowboys and Perceived Conflict Just like latent conflict, the problem is still interdependence. I believe

that both Hardy and the Special-Teams Unit can identify that there is a conflict. Hardy sets very high standards for the rest of his team when he feels that he

has performed well. They are both working toward the same goal, but the way Hardy has mentally setup and the fact that they both rely on each other, a conflict arises.

The Dallas Cowboys and Felt Conflict

I see a few angles that need approached in the phase. The way Hardy would like to settle the conflict, the way the team would like to settle the conflict, and the way the coaches/owner would like to settle the conflict. I believe Hardy handled his frustrations in a poor and negative manner. He should never

disrespect his teammates by insulting their performance, he should never disrespect his coach by yelling in his face and swatting at things in their hands, or make a huge scene like he did at all. Hardy wants to resolve the conflict he created by telling everyone what to do, acting like he is in charge, and then acting like everything is normal.

The team seems split on this in my eyes. The article noted that the players in the huddle did not seem too happy to be treated poorly by a teammate. However there McCray who was in the huddle and other players defending his actions. I cannot speak for the players in the huddle, but the other players believe that by backing up Hardy and forgetting about hid blow up is the best way to resolve the conflict.

The coached agree with the players that spoke out about Hardy. They believe he was doing this to encourage the Special-Teams Unit and that’s all there is to it. They think by giving him a high five for being a leader and being passionate, that the conflict between the teammates is resolved.

The Dallas Cowboys and Manifest Conflict The conflict was shown and was completely visible to every single

player for the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, every fan in the stadium, and every individual watching the game on television.

The situation escalated very quickly and Hardy felt like he had to belittle his teammates, get into a verbal fight with one of the injured players on the team, and argue with a coach while getting a little physical with him before the conflict de-escalated.

I believe the conflict is still going on and will continue until Hardy can make things right with everyone that was effected by the conflict he created.

The Dallas Cowboys and Conflict Aftermath

Short-Term The awkwardness for the entire

team, but things should go back to as normal as they could be after some time.

If there is a punishment that is later implemented by the NFL, it will only be for a short time. This would effect Hardy and the team.

Long-Term I don’t believe that the relationship of the

team will ever truly be the same again. This is a long-term effect of the conflict.

The entire team may have to face is how the public will view the team. After knowing the coach and owner allow this bullying to happen, will their opinions on the team change to a negative? It is possible.

The mind-set of the players that were belittled by Hardy. I am sure that they were doing the best they can in that game and to be called out, questioned, and insulted will probably take a mental toll on some of them.

There are many short-term and long-term effects that could occur:

Questions and Thoughts

It really infuriates me that Hardy has not been punished for his actions. While growing up, we are taught that, that behavior is called bullying and is unacceptable. I don’t understand why it is being accepted by a lot of the members of the Cowboys organization. There has to be a line of communication that has been cut-off somewhere along the line that is allowing behavior like this to happen.

Do you think the other athletes in the huddle that didn’t speak up are upset he is not being punished? Are they afraid to communicate their feelings?

It is sad that the players were treated so poorly. Do you think the organization has made communicating situations like this a priority? Do you think they have let the athletes know that it is okay to come to them with a problem or a feeling they need to talk about?

Do you think after this has happened, that the organization and similar organizations will communicate the importance of respecting the entire team?

I know football is suppose to be a manly and tough sport, but there are still limits and there is still a certain way individuals should be treated. At the end of the day, a football player is just a human being like the rest of us. I hope someone takes action sooner rater than later.

References

All Dallas Cowboys Profiles. Digital image. The Dallas Cowboys. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.Archer, Todd, and Jean-Jacques Taylor. "Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant Have Words on Sideline After DE's Special-Teams Tirade." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 02 Nov. 2015.Dwayne Harris. Digital image. The New York Giants. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov.

2015.Hardy and Bryant. Digital image. NESN. N.p., 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 2 Nov. 2015. Hardy Fighting With Teammates. Digital image. Total Pro Sports. N.p., 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.