USA TODAY International Edition
Cowboys players won’t resist Jones
OXNARD, Calif. – So who’s going to resist Jerry Jones?
The blanket message seems to be that any Cowboys player who protests during the national anthem, regardless of whatever policy the NFL and union craft, will be out of a job.
Now find one who dares put that threat to the test.
“It has no effect on me,” quarterback Dak Prescott said Friday, “because I do exactly what I’m doing, what I’ve said, what I stand by — whether I was wearing the star or not. Whether I was playing for Jerry Jones, Stephen Jones or any other owner, I believe in what I believe in, and that’s that.”
Prescott will stand at attention during “The Star-Spangled Banner,” as Jones would have it, and at least a halfdozen other players surveyed in the Cowboys camp declared likewise. Looks like Jones, whom Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins derided as a “bully,” has the right team to draw his line in the sand while others in the league attempt to find middle ground.
Think Ezekiel Elliott is prone to an anthem protest in the name of social injustice?
“Not to knock anyone who may want to kneel during the national anthem,” he said after practice. “We’re the Dallas football Cowboys. America’s Team. We stand for the national anthem.”
That’s pretty much company line coming from Camp Jerry. One player after another declared that the Cowboys are approaching the hottest issue in the NFL with a mission to proceed as a unified team, which, well, starts at the top.
Dallas doesn’t exactly have what you’d consider a “woke” locker room when it comes to the social awareness issues that have moved a number of players around the league. There is no Jenkins on this roster. No Richard Sherman. No Chris Long. No Jurrell Casey. No Michael Bennett. There doesn’t appear to be a single player in the Cowboys’ midst, at least at this point, willing to join the protest movement that has forced the NFL to engage with players on social issues like never before.
Instead, some of the key players, notably Prescott and Elliott, have positioned themselves to strike lucrative long-term contracts to follow their rookie deals, as soon as next year for Prescott. It’s conceivable they don’t want to rock the boat as the lure of collecting megamillions from Jerry looms. Other players with much less security would be more vulnerable to losing their jobs.
Undoubtedly, this would concern the NFL Players Association, already pursuing collusion cases for Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, the former 49ers effectively blackballed from the league.
That’s why Jenkins, from the Eagles locker room, railed on about Jones on Friday and the intimidation factor in play, which echoes jabs from President Donald Trump that call for teams to fire players who dared not to stand during the anthem.
But listen to Jourdan Lewis, a second-year Cowboys cornerback who considers himself politically aware, and the risk comes to life even more. “We have to do what we’re told,” he said. “You have a job to do first. It’s definitely a team-first thing. I don’t want to cause any distractions. If anything, I’ll do my political things away from the field.”
Since Kaepernick began taking a knee two years ago to protest the killing of unarmed African-Americans and other forms of policy brutality and social injustice, no Cowboys player has taken a knee during the anthem. Two players, defensive linemen David Irving and Damontre Moore, raised fists at the end of the anthem last season. Moore has since been released and Irving isn’t in camp, facing a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
While the Cowboys deny that Moore’s release was related to that action, it seems more plausible in the wake of executive vice president Stephen Jones’ comment this past week to KTCK 96.7 FM. Asked if he believed players would fall in line with the zerotolerance stance expressed by his father, Stephen Jones responded, “If they want to be a Dallas Cowboy, yes.”
This illustrates an inequitable burden that can exist for African-American players compared to white counterparts who might express sympathy for those protesting social issues but haven’t grown up faced with similar societal pressures.
With their hard-line stance, Cowboys management might have made it tougher on their African-American players to genuinely tote the company line and probably made the team less appealing to future free agents. Yet it’s also likely that if the Cowboys’ star African-Americans, such as Prescott and Elliott, don’t have a conviction for any protest, there’s a fat chance any Cowboy would.
Prescott, a third-year pro who has quickly gained respect for his poise and leadership, was adamant in expressing a sensitivity to the issues that fueled protests.
Yet he was just as unyielding when considering the notion not to toe the line during the anthem.
“I never protest during the anthem,” Prescott said. “I don’t think that’s the time or the venue to do so. The game of football has always brought me such a peace, and I think it does for a lot of people watching the game. So when you bring such controversy to the stadium, to the field, it takes away from the love that football brings to a lot of people.”
Prescott won’t get any argument from Jones.
“It’s not about taking a knee, it’s not necessarily about standing,” Prescott added. “I’m not naive. I’m very aware of the social injustice that we have going on. But I’m about the action that we can do, rather than the silent protests.”
Just don’t call the issue silent — with the Cowboys or elsewhere in the NFL.