Does a "Ray Rice-Like" Dez Bryant Video Really Exist? (Update)

A "Ray Rice-like" tape of Dez Bryant may be released soon.

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Dez Bryant might be in a lot of trouble soon. Er, or not. It all depends on how a recent rumor involving the Cowboys wide receiver plays out.

Over the last five days, there has been some speculation about a "Ray Rice-like" video of Bryant that may or may not exist. Both Bryant and the Cowboys have downplayed the possible existence of such a tape, but the rumor has refused to go away and seems to be getting more and more attention with every passing day.

It all started last week when Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio made an appearance on sports talk radio station 105.3 The Fan in Dallas and referenced the tape. He stopped short of saying that it was a real thing. But he made it seem as if everyone in NFL circles knows about it.

"It's one of the best-kept secrets in the media," he said. "A story that all of the major insiders know about, known about it for months, involving a video tape…[and the] Cowboys are aware of it. Because of that and possible other reasons, the Cowboys have been very reluctant to commit major money to him. I don't know that [the video] does exist…That's just the chatter, that there's video…and the Cowboys are afraid it will come out and have a Ray Rice-like type of an impact…People think that's what's keeping the Cowboys from a long-term commitment."

A short time after Florio spoke about the possibility of there being a "Ray Rice-like" tape, Bryant—who is in the midst of trying to get a long-term contract from the Cowboys—took to Twitter to address the rumor. He didn't get into specifics, but he did have this to say:

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Unfortunately for him, the rumor didn't die there. Media outlets continued to report about the alleged tape over the weekend. And while Cowboys COO Stephen Jones shot down the rumor during an interview with CowboysHQ, it hasn't disappeared yet.

It even got a second wind yesterday when the gossip blog Terez Owens reported that they have talked to a source who has seen the tape. According to their source, the video is "five times worse than the Ray Rice video" and could end Bryant's career. And late last night, music producer Jaywan Inc.—who has produced songs for everyone from Young Jeezy to 2 Chainz—also took to Twitter to reveal that he had been approached about buying the tape for his website. He didn't provide any proof. But for what it's worth, he sent out a series of tweets about how the tape is going to leak today:

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So is the tape real? As of right now, no. None of the alleged screengrabs that Jaywan Inc. referenced have been released and there's no evidence that the tape exists. But it's clear that this rumor is not going to fizzle anytime soon. So stay tuned. We'll obviously be sure to let you know if anything becomes of it.

UPDATE:

Adam Schefter did a radio interview today and revealed that he's been working on a story about the alleged Dez Bryant video since September. He said he hasn't seen the tape and wouldn't go into great detail about what he knows about it. But he has been working on trying to get to the bottom of the story.

"Whatever we’ve been working on is not ready and maybe it never will be," he said. "Who knows? You’ve got to be very careful on these things. People can talk about videos, they can talk about this, they can talk about that. The fact of the matter is, it doesn’t mean anything and it’s really not fair to him right now until you have all your facts in line. Which we spent a long time trying to do."

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