One playmaker certainly can recognize the talent of another playmaker, and in the process shows why playmakers get second chances.

Former Cowboys wide receiver and current NFL analyst Michael Irvin was giddy over the debut of Dallas defensive end Greg Hardy in an interview Monday with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, USA Today Sports' For the Win reported.

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Hardy returned Sunday from a four-game suspension for a violation of the league's code of conduct policy and sacked Patriots quarterback Tom Brady twice, hit him two other times and forced a fumble during New England's 30-6 win over the Cowboys.

Hardy was convicted for assaulting a female and communicating threats, stemming from a May 2014 incident. The woman refused to press charges, and the charges were dropped.

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Based on his actions Sunday, Irvin said that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones needed to sign Hardy to a long-term extension "right now," in the interview.

"I know a lot of people are mad at this dude, but I was like, 'Oh my God, this is the first game!'" Irvin said. "That was crazy. The kind of pressure he got on Tom Brady. It was scary crazy.

"I'm sorry everybody and I don't want to be insensitive," Irvin said. "But it was so impressive, mind-boggling impressive.

"If Greg Hardy was there the other two games [Atlanta and New Orleans], we would've won both. I got new hope. And that first game is gonna be his worst game because he is getting accustomed."

That's precisely the review the Cowboys were hoping for when they signed Hardy -- a performance that would help them overlook his offseason issues. Fox Sports reported that Hardy, the player, had been vindicated if Hardy, the man, had yet to be.

"They're two different things," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told reporters after the game, days after he attempted to brush aside the Hardy controversy. "It has been universally accepted that he's an outstanding player. I think we haven't seen that written anywhere that he was not a difference-maker."

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