*Back in 2018, Jerry Jones came across plantation’ish for saying that his Dallas Cowboys players will stand for the national anthem, “toes on the line,” or face consequences. On Wednesday, during his first appearance before the media in 109 days, and in a summer that saw worldwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans due to systemic racism, it appears that his stance has softened.
“That was then, this is now,” Jones said. “We’re going to have grace.”
The Cowboys’ owner and general manager would not say definitively what policy would be enacted this season regarding kneeling during the anthem, but said he has talked to “double handfuls” of people about what to do, including President Donald Trump, a former president, and current and former players.
“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,” Jones told the media. “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.
“So I want to sit down when I have an issue. I have a decision to make. I want to show the world that I can do it with grace and come up with the right solution. I don’t know what we’re going to be faced with here a month from now or two months from now. … Our players have always been open-eared for anything that I have to offer and I’ve been open-eared for what they have to offer, and that’s what we’ll do.”
Two of the newer Cowboys, Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe, said in interviews that they wished Jones would have made a comment about the social unrest and death of George Floyd.
Jones said Wednesday, “Am I interested in what any player, what any of our media, am I interested in what everybody has to say about any issue? You bet. And I have rabbit ears. I really do. Having said that, I am listening. The point is, we will do it in a way we think is sensitive and has as much grace for the genuine feelings of everybody in mind.”
Watch Jones’ press conference below.
Meanwhile, quarterback Dak Prescott said in his press conference that he tried to put himself in the shoes of an owner regarding Jones’ silence on social unrest.
“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 said. “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.”
Prescott said the players have talked about showing some form of protest during the upcoming season. While he could not say whether the Cowboys would do something as a team or on an individual basis, his hope is “as a football team you want to represent one group.”
Watch Prescott’s press conference below.
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