Jones prefers kneeling before anthem
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he would like his team to stand for the national anthem but kneel before it is played, similar to its handling of peaceful protests of racial inequalities during the 2017 NFL season.
“That, at the end of the day, was a recognition that we supported our players,” Jones said Tuesday in a Dallas radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan, according to Yahoo Sports. “I knelt with our players, as you know, on a personal basis. But as a team, we all knelt together before the anthem and then we stood for the anthem to recognize what its symbol is to America. I thought that was good. That’s the kind of thing that we’ll be looking to see if we can implement.”
While demonstrations had been sweeping across the United States, Jones had been largely quiet throughout the offseason on his team’s stance toward protesting systemic inequalities during playing of the national anthem.
On Monday, though, Cowboys defensive tackle Dontrari Poe said he planned on kneeling, though he added he hadn’t had a conversation with Jones about the issue.
“Not saying that anybody else is wrong for not doing it or whatever their cause is,” Poe said Monday. “But I just felt like I just wanted to do it for me and the statement I wanted to make.”
This month, Jones said he is listening to his players and their concerns on how to use their platform to effectively bring awareness to these issues and sought to show “grace” in the team’s actions.
The Cowboys have not had a player kneel or show any form of peaceful protest against injustice during the playing of the anthem.
In a Week 3 game during the 2017 season, after President Donald Trump called to “fire or suspend” NFL players who protested during the anthem, Jones and the entire Dallas team took a knee moments before the anthem was played but stood before it started.
“I knelt with our players, as you know, on a personal basis. But as a team, we all knelt together before the anthem and then we stood for the anthem to recognize what its symbol is to America. I thought that was good.”
Jerry Jones
Cowboys owner