Irving, TX (SportsNetwork.com) – Defensive tackle Josh Brent returned to the
Dallas Cowboys’ active roster Tuesday after completing a 10-game
suspension for a 2012 conviction of intoxication manslaughter.
Brent was reinstated by the league after successfully completing substance
abuse treatment and a counseling program for his role in the death of Cowboys
teammate Jerry Brown, who did not survive injuries sustained when Brent
crashed his Mercedes while driving with a blood alcohol level well above the
legal limit in December of 2012.
The 26-year-old Brent has been practicing with the team for the past two
weeks, though it is unclear whether he’ll play in Dallas’ upcoming game at the
New York Giants on Nov. 23. The Cowboys are currently on their bye week.
Brent has not appeared in an NFL game since the accident, for which he served
a 180-day jail sentence and was given 10 years of probation.
He briefly retired during the summer of 2013 while awaiting trial on the
intoxication manslaughter charges, but was re-signed by Dallas just prior to
the start of this season, the same time NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
announced Brent’s 10-game ban.
Brent originally joined the Cowboys as a seventh-round pick of the 2010 draft
out of the University of Illinois, where he also was a teammate of Brown’s.
The 320-pound lineman emerged as a key rotational defender for Dallas during
the 2012 season, starting five games and compiling 22 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks
over 12 contests prior to his arrest.
In 44 overall games with Dallas, Brent has registered 44 tackles and 1 1/2
sacks.
