After the Dallas Cowboys’ first camp session finished, veteran receiver Roy Williams handed his pads to rookie Dez Bryant, who refused to carry them. Handing pads to rookies after practice is part of the longtime NFL tradition of hazing new players. Other practices include forcing new players to wear bizarre clothes or accessories (such as girly backpacks) and even some strange shaving rituals.

“I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads,” Dez Bryant said to defend his attitude. “If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing.” On the other hand, Williams said he had to carry pads when he was a rookie for Detroit. “No matter if you're a No. 1 pick or the 7,000th pick, you've still got to do something when you're a rookie,” Williams commented.

While for some things like carrying pads are hazing acts, others consider it just a matter of respect, rookies respecting veterans in a team. In this case, however, the story has a tweak because Bryant is in the NFL team to replace Williams, who has not had a good performance.

Opinions about this issue are divided and while for some Bryant should apologize by carrying the pads of all the veteran NFL players in his team and go along with other pranks, others say he owes no respect to Williams but he should show it to the other senior team members in the Dallas Cowboys NFL team.