Jason Witten is perhaps the most universally beloved teammate in recent NFL history. He is a former Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner. He was a Dallas Cowboys captain for practically his entire career. It would be nearly impossible to find a player who shared a locker room with Witten and has a single negative thing to say about him. That flawless record remains intact for the greatest tight end in Cowboys history, but it was at least challenged by Terrance Williams.

When Williams was asked about the absence of Dez Bryant at training camp, he gushed about the former Dallas receiver for several sentences. Several other Cowboys have spoken highly of Bryant even if the praise wasn't universal. Those who had strong relationships with Bryant seemed to be very close with him, while those who disliked him seemed to do so greatly. Bryant has feuded publicly with players like Sean Lee this offseason. Witten has never been embroiled in any such controversy.

But when Williams was asked about Witten, he refused to comment. Obviously Williams wasn't forced to have a relationship with Witten, and it's possible that they simply weren't close. But refusing to comment altogether about a player who is revered in the Cowboys community feels tantamount to insulting him. Williams couldn't be bothered to offer a few kind words about a team legend? Someone who Williams has literally never played an NFL game without, and who likely played at least some role in his development as a receiver? Something smells fishy about this.

The obvious explanation would relate to the ways in which Bryant and Witten left the Cowboys. Bryant was released. He didn't have a choice in how he left the team, and even said that he would have been willing to take a pay cut if the Cowboys had asked. He wanted to be a Cowboy this season. The opportunity to be one was taken away from him. And it would be easy for Williams to view Bryant as a victim through that lens, especially if they already had a strong relationship.

But Witten could have been a Cowboy this season and chose not to be. No player can be blamed for retiring. Literally every single one of them will do it eventually. But Witten didn't retire in February or March. He did so in April, in the middle of the NFL Draft. And Williams might not like Witten putting the Cowboys in such a difficult position. They were essentially unable to replace him, and will now enter the season without a tight end on their roster who has caught 10 passes in his career.

That is the obvious explanation, but the real one is probably far more specific to the relationship between those two players. Williams' refusal to comment indicates that they weren't close, but without him saying something negative, we will probably never know why that is. And that's probably for the best. There isn't a Cowboys fan on Earth who would side with Williams in a feud with Witten. There might not be 10 Cowboys in history with a higher approval rating. Williams didn't have anything nice to say, so he chose not to say anything at all.