Dorothy Newton, the ex-wife of former Cowboys guard Nate Newton, discusses the organization’s knowledge of the domestic violence she experienced at the hands of her husband.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been under fire all season for signing and supporting defensive end Greg Hardy, who was convicted on two counts of domestic assault in July 2014 before the case was dropped on appeal when the alleged victim failed to appear in court.
The ex-wife of former Cowboys offensive lineman Nate Newton says Hardy’s situation isn’t the first time the organization has knowingly supported an abuser.
In an interview with SI Now’s Maggie Gray, Dorothy Newton reveals that not only did the Cowboys know about the “emotional” and “verbal” abuse inflicted on her by Newton while he was a player, but they also abetted his violence, which she says was a staple of their marriage.
“It was something that happened quite often,” Dorothy told Gray. “I just became the result of his way of releasing anger and frustration and a lot of things he was dealing with.”
According to Dorothy, Nate’s outside marketing representative once betrayed her trust and revealed his alleged abuse to someone within the Cowboys organization. Word trickled to Nate, and what followed was one of the worst nights of Dorothy’s life.
“That’s when he came home and shoved a custom-made kitchen table into my pregnant stomach and scraped it, thank God, and also shot at me,” Dorothy said.
SI has reached out to the Dallas Cowboys for comment, but has not yet heard back. UPDATE: SI attempted to reach the Cowboys earlier but an email was erroneously sent to the wrong address. The Cowboys are now aware of this story and may be issuing a response.
Nate Newton was a member of the Dallas Cowboys from 1986 to ’98. He was named to the Pro Bowl five times and won three Super Bowls with Dallas.
Watch Dorothy Newton’s full interview with Maggie Gray here.