Sam Hurd: Chicago Bears WR's Woes Touch Nerve in Dallas Cowboys' Locker Room

And you thought the Dallas Cowboys were in bad shape already.

The news of Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd's arrest on federal drug trafficking charges came as a shock to the NFL's purportedly pristine system on Thursday, with the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex serving as one of the epicenters.

Hurd spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Cowboys, who signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Northern Illinois in 2006. The San Antonio native, while not the most productive player (45 catches for 620 yards and two touchdowns in four seasons), undoubtedly developed some close ties with other players on the team.

This includes nose tackle Jay Ratliff. According to Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the seventh-year veteran out of Auburn, known for his Jekyll-and-Hyde personality, went off on long-time Cowboys beat reporter Calvin Watkins. The near-altercation allegedly began when Watkins asked Ratliff about the specter surrounding Hurd, his former Cowboys teammate, and Ratliff quickly grew tense and almost violent.

What specifically set off Ratliff in this case is unknown, though clearly, Watkins' line of questioning touched a nerve. Engel goes on to speculate that this whole incident may just be an extension of Ratliff's long, tense relationship with local media, something that even All-Pro DeMarcus Ware had previously attested to:

"

They are two different guys. One is a jokester, and Jay wants to grab and choke you... You don’t know what to expect from Jay. One day Jay will come in happy and the next day he’ll roll his eyes. And I’m like, 'We’re going to have a long day.'

"

Seeing a friend like Hurd wind up in such dire trouble as this might also have played into Ratliff letting loose with such raw emotion.

Whatever the case may be, it's clear that the impact of the Sam Hurd scandal has been and will be felt far beyond the borders of the Windy City. How far it goes, how many players it touches and how much damage it wreaks upon the NFL as a whole could potentially overshadow, at least in part, what's been an incredibly exciting and intriguing 2011 season.

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