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Jerry Jones Wants Compromise with Cowboys Players on Kneeling During Anthem
August 25, 2020
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday he'll hold conversations with the team's players in hopes of finding a compromise about whether they'll kneel during the national anthem throughout the 2020 NFL season.
Jones explained on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas that an idea similar to what the team did before a September 2017 game against the Arizona Cardinals might be the best route to take (around 16:30 mark):
"That's fair. And that, at the end of the day, was a recognition that we support our players. I knelt with our players as you know, on a personal basis, but as a team, we all knelt together before the anthem, and we stood for the anthem to recognize what it's symbol is to America. And I thought that was good. That's the kind of thing that we'll be looking to see if we can implement."
Cowboys defensive tackle Dontari Poe told reporters Sunday he's planning to take a knee during the anthem to protest social injustice, but added he's open to further discussions with Jones on the subject:
"I do still plan on kneeling, but we haven't had the conversation yet. But we did have a team meeting where he kind of expressed a couple of feelings and he always told us that he has an open door for us to talk to him at any time, so I look forward to taking advantage of that and just getting in his ear and seeing how he's feeling about it."
Jones confirmed on 105.3 The Fan he's planning to meet with Poe, who signed a two-year contract as a free agent in April, on a one-on-one basis (around 15:20 mark):
"By the time that we have the first game, I will have a visit with him more than likely on an individual basis. All of that will come into play. We'll have a plan that recognizes what he's trying to do and the way he's trying to do it. And everyone's going to be sensitive to, on the other hand, be sensitive to what it is we're about. We're out there to ask the fans to follow, be attentive to us. We're well aware of the issue and well aware where Dallas Cowboys fans are on it. All of that will be put in a hopper, we'll see how we handle it."
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Fox Sports' Emmanuel Acho on Monday he will "support" players who kneel during the national anthem and confirmed they won't face any discipline for protesting.
The kneeling movement was started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in August 2016. He's remained a free agent since March 2017, leading to a collusion lawsuit against the NFL and its owners that was settled out of court in February 2019.
Dallas is scheduled to open the regular season Sept. 13 when it visits SoFi Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Rams in the prime-time Sunday Night Football game on NBC.