Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. (AP) The NFL’s national anthem debate, in which players have taken knees or raised fists to protest racial division, has grown from a single backup quarterback to more than half a dozen teams. The Dallas Cowboys are most definitely not one of those teams.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones appeared on the team’s flagship station, 105.3 The Fan, and congratulated the entire organization on handling the anthem issue the way he wanted.
“I got to give a big pat on the back to our entire team, our coaching staff, our entire organization,” Jones said. “We strongly, strongly support the flag in every way we support — and it’s almost ridiculous to be saying it — the people who for generations and generations have given it all up so that we can get out here and show off in front of millions of people on television.”
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“We respect that so much,” Jones continued. “That’s the real business. The forum of the NFL and the forum on television is a very significant thing. I’m for it being used in every way we can to support the great, great contributors in our society, and that’s people that have supported America, the flag, and there’s no reason not to go all out right there. And for anybody to use parts of that visibility to do otherwise is really disappointing.”
It’s a stirring American sentiment, and one that surely plays well with the they-should-be-grateful-to-be-playing crowd. But Jones, like many others, is conflating the protest of the anthem with a protest of the military. The players who have spoken about the anthem and their protests have gone to great lengths to distance this from criticism of the military.
Here’s why this story isn’t going away: what happens if a Dallas player decides to kneel or raise a fist during the anthem? It wouldn’t go over well in Texas, certainly, but would Jones follow through on the desires of many fans and cut the player outright? The harder each side digs in, the longer this story will run.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.