By Alex O’Connor

Last Tuesday, backup running back for the Dallas Cowboys, Joseph Randle, was caught shoplifting underwear and cologne from a local Dallas store. The theft was considered a Class B theft, which is between $50 and $500 worth of items being stolen. Randle was fined a week of his pay, which came out to $29,500. Once the incident occurred, Randle was in serious hot water with the front office and outside media. The Dallas Morning News interviewed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones about the issue. Jones declared that Randle would ”pay a high price” for shoplifting cologne and underwear. However, less than a week later, Randle is trying to build good report by signing an endorsement deal with “MeUndies”, an underwear company. Randle is trying to “right a wrong” within the media, and is wasting no time in doing that.

The day before Randle shoplifted those items, he made the most of his opportunities on the field. Randle carried the ball five times for fifty-two yards, including a thirty-eight yard run. He negated all of the positive momentum he built up on the field by shoplifting just two days later. The Dallas Morning News report painted the issue as a matter that would have serious consequences. However, with help from his agent and “MeUndies”, Randle has swung the favor of the media back to his favor.

“MeUndies” is a Los Angeles based lifestyle brand that is finding a unique way to advertise their products. According to the agreement between Randle and “MeUndies”, he will donate $15,000 of their product back to the local community. Randle will also speak at local schools to negate stealing among youths. In addition, he is required to apologize, take action and take responsibility for these actions. Though this is an easy task, it will continue to repair the damage he has done. An additional benefit for Randle’s situation is that “MeUndies” will instantly have more media buzz associated with them. Numerous national media outlets such as ESPN, Yahoo Sports and NBCSports have acknowledged the goodwill Randle is trying to promote, and they believe he has taken steps to improve his image.

The ultimate lesson in Randle’s scenario is that he made something good about a bad situation. He coincidentally lost and gained back most of the media’s attention within a weeks time. Though Randle is not an extremely well known player, he now is more of a household name due to his actions off of the field. With the help of “MeUndies” and his agent, Randle’s reputation has significantly improved.