Dez Bryant's dinner tab for his Cowboys teammates: $54K

Dallas Cowboys rookie learns a $54,000 lesson about the wisdom of following tradition.

Dallas -- In the end, it would have cheaper, a LOT cheaper, for Dallas Cowboys rookie Dez Bryant to go along with the traditional hazing and carry fellow receiver Roy Williams' pads to the locker room.

But Bryant, the Cowboys' No. 1 draft pick who received an $8.3 million signing bonus, refused, saying he'd been brought to Dallas "to play football, not to carry another player's pads."

Instead of taking umbrage, veteran Williams got revenge. Calvin Watkins, writing for espndallas.com, tells the story:

Williams excused it, saying then that Bryant, who received $8.3 million in guaranteed money from his rookie contract, would just have to take the team out to dinner and get him some new shoes.

Well, that dinner happened Monday night. The final tab: $54,896.

Bryant took the offensive players out to Pappas Bros. Steakhouse. Williams, however, made sure Bryant got the message, inviting defensive players as well.

And guess who was left holding the bill afterward.

"They got the young fella," said Bryant's adviser, David Wells. "What could he say? He had to pay it unless he wanted to wash dishes for a month."

Players ordered basically everything on the menu and even took home bottles of wine.

Presumably, all Bryant took home was a hefty credit card receipt ... and a few gallons of whine. And it's a sucker bet to think that the shoes Williams will want will come from a discount store.