Former Cowboy Marcus Spears Says Ezekiel Elliott’s 'Gotta Stop Being Dumb, Man'

Former Cowboys defensive end Marcus Spears has some advice for Ezekiel Elliott.

Brenda Martinez
Getty

Image via Getty

Brenda Martinez

You might remember Marcus Spears as a beast at LSU under Nick Saban, or as a defensive end for the Cowboys for eight years. He retired in 2013 after spending his final season with the Ravens. Spears recently participated in an interview with 103.3 FM in Dallas, and he offered some advice to soon-to-be second-year Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott.​ 

Elliott has come under fire again recently for pulling a woman’s shirt down and exposing her breast in public at a St. Patrick’s Day Parade. TMZ leaked footage of the incident. Elliott’s reps said it was “all in good fun” and the woman didn’t care.

“The guy’s just gotta stop being dumb, man,” Spears said, via the Dallas Morning News. “That’s really what it boils down to. And I’m not going to speak on it like I know all of the particulars but I saw it and I don’t understand it. I was talking to my wife last night about it. With all of the social media, all of the media coverage that we give because we have to and we have to talk about these things, you would think that these guys would have in their minds and they would understand that I have things that I can’t do. And not as a football player, but just as a human.

"At the end of the day, the eye of the world is on Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott because of the success that they had. They not only have the eye of the world but they play for the Dallas Cowboys, who are always in the eye of public.”

Spears added that Elliott needs to get away from the spotlight for a while.

“I think Zeke just needs to lay low,” Spears said. “Have fun, man, have fun. He’s young. But do it in the right way and the respectable manner. At the end of the day no one can fault you for trying to enjoy the hard work and the labor that you put in to put yourself in this position. But you also have a responsibility to not only yourself but your family to take care of business the right way and not get involved in stupidity.”

Spears was relatively gentle, but other former NFL players have been more critical of Elliott. Chris Spielman—who played in the NFL from 1988-99, and like Elliott, attended Ohio State—said the “young card” is no excuse.

“He is bringing this upon himself,” Spielman said. “Nobody is bringing this upon him. And he’s not young. He is of the age where he knows right from wrong, so let’s stop with the young card, I can’t stand it. There are no more young cards. It’s never OK to pull somebody’s shirt down. That’s insane to even justify that behavior. It’s crazy.”

NFL has no comment on the video of Ezekiel Elliot pulling down a woman's top at a St. Patrick's Day parade.

It does not appear the NFL plans to take any punitive action with Elliott, who rushed for 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns in his rookie season.

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