Jerry Jones has been firm in his belief that players should stand for the national anthem, but the owner and general manager of Dallas Cowboys did not say if a policy will be in effect in 2020.
Jones said he has talked to “double handfuls” of people, including President Donald Trump, a former president, and current and former players about what to do.
“We will show mercy. I will show mercy. And I want to show that kind of mercy on a sensitive matter,” Jones said Wednesday, speaking to the media for the first time in 109 days. “Everyone is really here. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt relative to every decision I make. I have one thing: my job is to run the Dallas Cowboys. My job is to do what’s right. We have asked for all this interest and we asked our players to give everything they have.
“That I want to sit down when I have a problem. I have to make a decision. I want to show the world that I can do it with grace and come up with the right solution. I do not know what we are going to be here a month from now or two months to be confronted … Our players are always open eared for everything I have to offer and I am open eared for what they have to offer, and we will do that. “
When the problem arose in 2017, Jones required his players to stand “toes on the line” for the national anthem.
“That was then, this is now,” Jones said. “We will have mercy.”
In 2017, Jones took a stand with his players for the national anthem for a game in Arizona and then stood arm in arm with her during the national anthem. Last year, the Cowboys had two players, Robert Quinn and Michael Bennett, who had protested against former teams. Quinn, who raised his fist in Miami, stood for the national anthem in Dallas, while Bennett, who remained in the locker room while he was with New England for the national anthem, also stood but grabbed forward and through.
Two of the newer Cowboys, Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe, said in the offseason that they wish Jones would have made a comment about the social unrest in the United States that was exacerbated by the death of George Floyd, while he was a police officer in Minneapolis. Jones did not have a direct conversation with any of the players.
“Am I interested in what each player, some of our media, am I interested in what everyone has to say about each issue? You bet,” Jones said. “And I have rabbits. I really do. I said that, I listen. The point is we will do it in a way that we think is sensitive and has just as much grace for the real feelings of everyone in mind. . “
Quarterback Dak Prescott said he saw Jones’ silence from the owner’s perspective.
“He tried to listen and collect everything before he came out and said his simple view. Because of his background and his beliefs, everything is different from a lot of other people,” Prescott said. “Not that he can not relate, but it can be difficult for him to relate to what other people are going through at the moment. I do not think he just wanted to talk to [urgency] and say something wrong. It is difficult. “
Prescott said the players have had conversations about some form of protest as the season begins. Although he could not say whether the Cowboys would do anything as a team or on an individual basis, his hope is “as a football team you want to represent one group.”
“The best part of football is that it represents the country in a sense,” Prescott said. “Different people from different economic backgrounds, different social backgrounds, different faiths, religions, colors. Every way you think of it, the football team is made up 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 and win each other.I think in everything we do, we want to represent how we can come together and how we can be as one.That’s what this country should be at the moment . “
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