By Mike Fisher | @fishsports

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) — I've made an effort to speak to the leaders of the Cowboys locker room who, to a man, are embracing the addition of Greg Hardy despite his 10-game suspension from the NFL for involvement in a domestic-violence case. And now we're hearing from Jason Witten -- a foundation piece of that locker room who is open about having been a childhood victim of domestic violence.

And Witten is trying to make this work, too.

"I think everybody knows (my history and views on) domestic violence,'' said Witten on Sunday while supervising a youth football ProCamps event at Argyle's Liberty Christian School. "That's something that I lived, my family lived. But that guy is a teammate of mine, so I think you have to look at it ... as coach (Jason) Garrett says: 'It's our job to invite those guys in and then create a standard of how we do things.'

"I think he's done a great job since he's been here."

Witten, the 10-time Pro Bowler and future Hall-of-Famer, uses his high profile to raise awareness for efforts to end domestic violence. But he's got another job, too: To help his Cowboys win football games.

"It's not my job to decide who comes and who doesn't," Witten said. "I'm a tight end. But I've been really pleased with how he's approached it and how he goes to work and what kind of teammate he's been. The day he got suspended, the next day he was in there working out, so I think that's kind of the mentality he has, what kind of work ethic and what he's trying to prove here in Dallas."

Hardy is appealing his suspension and during this time is allowed to be part of the club's Valley Ranch workouts. Witten echoes the views expressed to me by other players, coaches and team execs in saying Hardy "works his tail off ... I think he's learned a lot from what he's gone through in the last year."

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