Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will not reveal team’s 2020 national anthem policy
Jerry Jones will not publicly announce the Dallas Cowboys policy on standing or kneeling during the national anthem for team players.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones refuses to announce the team policy for the national anthem in place for the upcoming 2020-2021 season.
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ESPN reports that although Jones has long believed standing for the anthem should be mandatory, he did not announce the standard being held for his players for the starting season. He does, however, share he has held conversations with President Donald Trump in addition to current and former and players about the pressing issue.
“We’re going to show grace. I’m going to show grace. And I’d like to show that kind of grace on a sensitive matter,” says Jones in his first media appearance in over 100 days.
He continues, “Everybody is genuine here. I’m giving everyone the benefit of the doubt relative to any decision that I make. I have one thing: My job is to run the Dallas Cowboys. My job is to do what’s right. We’ve asked for all of this interest and we’ve asked for our players to give everything they’ve got.”
Kneeling or standing for the performance of the national anthem at the start of NFL games has become politicized. Former player Colin Kaepernick, who began the action in 2016, was pushed out of the league for his commitment to his cause.
theGrio previously reported that Joe Lockhart, the former executive vice president in charge of communications and government affairs for the NFL, confirmed Kaepernick’s kneeling is the reason no longer plays.
Last year marked the 3-year anniversary of Kaepernick’s peaceful protest against racial injustice and police brutality.
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During the 2017 football season, ESPN reports Jones required his players to stand for the anthem “toes on the line.” That same year, he took a knee before the anthem began and once the song was performed he stood arm-in-arm with players.
Members of the Dallas Cowboys have mixed reactions to his silence. According to ESPN, Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe, both newer members, had hoped Jones would have spoken out about the nationwide protests and push for change following the death of George Floyd.
Quarterback Dak Prescott attempted to see things from Jones’ point of view. ESPN reports the star player extended grace to the team owner.
“He was trying to listen and gather everything he can before he came out and said his simple view. Because of his background and his beliefs, all that is different than a lot of other people,” Prescott says to ESPN.
He continues, “not that he can’t relate, but it may be tough for him to relate to what other people may be going through right now. I don’t think he just wanted to speak with [urgency] and say something wrong. It’s tough.”
The QB also tells the sports outlet the players have discussed joint and individual protests.
“Any way you think of, the football team is compiled of all kinds of different places and backgrounds where they come from. We all come together for one common goal, and that is to support each other and go win,” he says.
“I think in anything that we do, we want to represent how we can come together and how we can be as one. That is what this country needs to be right now.”
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