Cowboys' Jerry Jones Wants to See NFL Teams Increase Minority Ownership

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes improving the diversity among the NFL's ownership ranks would help to remedy some of the wider inequities across the league.

"[There are] multiple ways to address inequity," he told reporters Sunday after the Cowboys' 30-10 win over the New York Jets. "Multiple ways to go do it. And certainly I would think about one way is to try to work to get ownership improved in the minority area. And I'm all for it and I do it. I work at it. I work at it."

Jones was recently implicated in Jim Trotter's racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL. Trotter alleged the 80-year-old made an inflammatory remark in reference to the lack of minority hires made in high-level executive positions in the NFL.

"If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire," Jones allegedly said.

Jones disputed Trotter's claim.

"Diversity and inclusion are extremely important to me personally and to the NFL," he said on Sept. 12. "The representation made by Jim Trotter of a conversation that occurred over three years ago with myself and our VP of Player Personnel Will McClay is simply not accurate."

Last November, the Washington Post's David Maraniss and Sally Jenkins profiled Jones for the paper's "Black Out" series, which focused on the NFL's lack of Black coaches. Maraniss and Jenkins made the point that the legendary owner "could lead the way" on hiring more Black coaches, and Jones himself told the reporters that "I want to be the first in line."

However, Maraniss and Jenkins described Jones' track record in this area as "deficient."

"In his 33 years as owner, Jones has had eight head coaches, all White," they noted. "During that time, just two of the team's offensive or defensive coordinators, the steppingstones to head coaching positions, have been Black, including none since 2008."

Jones laid out to Maraniss and Jenkins what he thinks is one issue: NFL owners are prone to hiring candidates whom they already know, regardless of whether something like the Rooney Rule is in place.

"I didn't hire Jimmy through an interview. Did I?" he said. "I didn't hire Barry Switzer through an interview, okay? And I didn't want [Dennis Green] through an interview at the time. But I knew 'em."

"The question, as Jones sees it, is how to escort Black coaches into the circle of cronyism so they don't have to be interviewed," Maraniss and Jenkins wrote.

Increasing the level of minority ownership theoretically could achieve that goal. However, some may contend that Jones is passing the buck a bit with his more top-down mindset.

As arguably the NFL's most powerful owner, nobody has a better opportunity to affect change and lead by example than him.