JOHNNIE HERNANDEZ AND HIS GIRLfriend, Rachelle Marie Smith, came to Dallas from Denver in 1991, a young couple with a bright future. They took a two-story brick house in Cedar Hill; he introduced her as his fiance. He got a job as a cop in the Dallas Police Department. She eventually did some dancing at the Men's Club. Set out on Northwest Highway, the Men's Club is by many measures a nice place: swank, tony, a place where one might meet successful locals like the Dallas Cowboys. According to The Dallas Morning News, team players, coaches and executives were in the place ""around the clock, even between practices.'' If the Cowboys were America's Team, the Men's Club was the de facto capitol. Some took to the exclusive ""members only'' section, with its cellular phones, fax machines and gourmet dining. Flashy receiver Michael Irvin, married with two children, reportedly liked the front area, where he could be seen.
For Smith, it was a good job. She and friends like Angela Beck and Jasmine Nabwangu could make upwards of $300 a night unpeeling for wealthy men, plus they could meet and party with guys like Irvin. But it had its drawbacks. In March, police say, they found Irvin in a $119-a-night hotel room with Beck, Nabwangu, some sex toys and $6,000 worth of cocaine and marijuana. He goes on trial for felony and misdemeanor charges this week (he has pleaded not guilty ). During jury selection last week, the case took an even darker turn. By all accounts a good cop, a mentor to local kids, Hernandez was arrested for allegedly paying an undercover DEA agent $2,960 to kill Irvin. According to law-enforcement sources, Hernandez believed that Irvin was threatening Smith, who had reportedly testified before the grand jury that indicted him against him in a grand jury hearing. And they say chivalry is dead.
The cop and the dancer hit the Dallas Cowboys on a bad streak. Once known for its squeaky-clean coach Tom Landry and equally unblemished quarterback Roger Staubach, the team lately seems to be spinning out of control. William Bennett, former secretary of education, accused the team of ""hurting this country's morale.'' Though it has won three championships in four years, off the field it has had troubles. Besides the Men's Club, locals talk about the suburban""white house,'' where several players took women, mixing a little sex with their professional violence. Since 1994, two players have been suspended by the NFL on drug violations, and two more picked up for driving under the influence; two players reached settlements with topless dancers who accused them of sexual assault. Team response has been tepid. Coach Barry Switzer, who came to Dallas after a series of player scandals at Oklahoma University, including gun charges and an alleged rape, told The New York Times after one Cowboy's DWI arrest, ""I can't afford to cut him right now without hurting the team.'' Amid league worries about drug use among Cowboys, Jerry Jones, the team's abrasive owner, declared that the NFL had a drug problem: it was too stringent in testing its players.
Irvin is the team's biggest worry. The 15th of 17 children raised poor in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Irvin is as notorious for his arrogance as for his prodigious talent. Like many other gifted athletes, he received lessons early on about the special grace of sports stars. At Piper High School, jealous of kids who had things he couldn't afford, he fell in with a larcenous crowd, and was suspended at the end of his sophomore year. When he then transferred to a Catholic school, he learned about the quality of mercy, at least for jocks: Piper not only forgave him, it sued the Catholic school to get him back. Such lessons have not been lost on Irvin. When cops came into room 624 of the Residence Inn on March 4, reportedly finding at least four grams of coke and two ounces of pot, a shirtless Irvin said, ""Hey, can I tell you who I am?'' Officer Matt Drumm, a Cowboys fan, looked away, disappointed. ""I know who you are.'' Three weeks later, Irvin showed up for grand-jury proceedings in a full-length black mink coat and sunglasses.
As arguments in his trial begin this week, prosecutors can't count on an easy time. Nearly half the prospective jurors described themselves as ""avid'' Cowboys fans, and one credited the team with restoring the city's image after the JFK assassination. ""I realize it's unfair to place a higher standard on them,'' one told The Dallas Morning News. ""But life's unfair.'' At the courthouse, dozen of fans, mostly kids, show up daily hoping to get an autograph.
Hernandez, charged with bribery and solicitation of capital murder, can expect no such special grace. Alexander Pope had it wrong, at least when it comes to sports stars. To err is the prerogative of the divine. For us humans, all we can do is forgive, and hope our team gives 'em heck on Sunday.