Dez Bryant on NFL Total Access... Vid Post #18

Boyzmamacita

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Dez is a country boy and grew up in Lufkin, TX so what is this "inner-city African American communities" you speak of?

I think Dez will be the first to tell you he wants to speak better and to be more understood, that's why he has gotten better at speaking to the media every year since being here. Some people might think his voice makes him look stupid, but when I read his twitter I see a very smart Intelligent man that wants to be the best.

Anyone remember some of those Michael Irvin interviews back in the day, his voice was so damn high and squeeky, I think Dez is in the same boat in that as he keeps maturing into a man he will have a better hold on his voice.

Excellent point about Twitter. If he is doing his own tweeting, then his spelling and grammar are both excellent. Maybe he feels better with the written word.
 

KJJ

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We have the same discussions about Emmitt and his grammar. I really don't care how Dez talks he says all the right things. All I care about is that he does the right things off the field and plays great on the field.
 

JoeyBoy718

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We have the same discussions about Emmitt and his grammar. I really don't care how Dez talks he says all the right things. All I care about is that he does the right things off the field and plays great on the field.
Great point. He says all the right things. I care more about the content of what someone says than how they say it. TO was pretty articulate. But the things he said were ridiculous and proved to be detrimental. Dez is a good kid. So is Claiborne. So much for a prostitute mom and a laughable Wonderlic score. These guys are high character kids. You can't ask for more.
 

Mattb_25

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You guys do realize how important environment is when growing up right? Chances are he'll probably never grow out of his way of speaking because he spent his whole life growing up around other people talking like that. Besides, he's had a hard life I'm sure, but he's making sure he matures and makes an example of himself for young kids, regardless of how he speaks. That's a good role model in my eyes.
 

CT Dal Fan

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It's not even that his speech is that bad, it's just that you can tell he's still uncomfortable in front of the camera, and I don't blame him at all for that, I would just freeze up and stutter like crazy if I was in that situation. He'll get used to it with time. I loved that comment about how it's the receivers and defenses job to help Romo get the MVP, I've never heard a player say that before and I thought it was very insightful.

I was going to say the same exact thing. Dez appears a little nervous on camera. And I'm sure he's also being very careful of what words he chooses at the same time; because he knows how the media likes to twist things around.
 

JoeyBoy718

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You guys do realize how important environment is when growing up right? Chances are he'll probably never grow out of his way of speaking because he spent his whole life growing up around other people talking like that. Besides, he's had a hard life I'm sure, but he's making sure he matures and makes an example of himself for young kids, regardless of how he speaks. That's a good role model in my eyes.

Environment is important. I agree with you there. I don't agree with the notion of someone "growing out of" the way they talk. Now, you can learn and master the standard dialect, but you don't have to ever grow out of your home dialect. It's actually a tragedy when someone grows out of their natural home dialect. African American English, a.k.a. Ebonics, is a recognized dialect of English and has a deep history, both tragic and beautiful. Dez is just fine. He has a good head on his shoulders and he says all the right things. Even LeBron James, the almighty, talks with a little Ebonics. Just keep doing your thing, Dez. The sky's the limit for this kid.
 

JoeyBoy718

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I was going to say the same exact thing. Dez appears a little nervous on camera. And I'm sure he's also being very careful of what words he chooses at the same time; because he knows how the media likes to twist things around.

Nervous is fine. I noticed he was extremely nervous in his earlier interviews and that he's been getting better over the years. Who wouldn't be? I have a problem with the people saying Dez speaks "bad English."
 

Mattb_25

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Environment is important. I agree with you there. I don't agree with the notion of someone "growing out of" the way they talk. Now, you can learn and master the standard dialect, but you don't have to ever grow out of your home dialect. It's actually a tragedy when someone grows out of their natural home dialect. African American English, a.k.a. Ebonics, is a recognized dialect of English and has a deep history, both tragic and beautiful. Dez is just fine. He has a good head on his shoulders and he says all the right things. Even LeBron James, the almighty, talks with a little Ebonics. Just keep doing your thing, Dez. The sky's the limit for this kid.

Definitely. Perhaps I should have rephrased myself a bit. There's always ways to correct speech with speech therapy, learning new vocabulary, being around other people, but I believe he'll always retain his home dialect. He's not a bad person because of how he speaks, which was basically my main point. Just because someone speaks a certain way, doesn't signify how he is as a person. I feel like Dez has finally matured and will be able to move forward from his past mishaps, which I hope other people see as well.
 

JoeyBoy718

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Definitely. Perhaps I should have rephrased myself a bit. There's always ways to correct speech with speech therapy, learning new vocabulary, being around other people, but I believe he'll always retain his home dialect. He's not a bad person because of how he speaks, which was basically my main point. Just because someone speaks a certain way, doesn't signify how he is as a person. I feel like Dez has finally matured and will be able to move forward from his past mishaps, which I hope other people see as well.

Most definitely. He always got a bad rap. He never even really did anything wrong. Most people shied away from him because of his upbringing, but that's not his fault. What's the worst that he did? Had dinner with Deion and sagged in a mall. TO was also someone who got a bad rap but never actually did anything criminal. But TO was just an idiot and caused unnecessary drama within the locker room. Dez never did that. Dez has no criminal record and he has never been a locker room distraction. You really can't ask for more out of a player. I can't believe 23 teams passed on him because of his "baggage."
 
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