Jerry Jones Did Not Tell The Cowboys To Stand Or Leave
Today has been an unprecedented day across the NFL with well over 100 players, coaches, and owners participating in National Anthem demonstrations across the country. The mass response has been a reaction to the President referring to any athlete who stages a protest or demonstration as a "son of a bitch" during a campaign rally on Friday night.
At one point today, the Pittsburgh Steelers even refused to leave the locker room during the anthem.
Players from New Orleans to New England, and Green Bay to Buffalo participated in protests, while the Jacksonville Jaguars were joined in their arm-lock by their owner while getting ready for their game in London. Team owners also expressed their disappointment and frustration with the President this morning.
But one story that has been swirling involves Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The Cowboys will not play until tomorrow, which means they won't be in conversation with today's teams, but it also means they'll be on the main stage nationwide tomorrow night.
This story involves a meme that is a few months old, it's a fake news story that has circulated online that Jones said he would kick players off his team if they didn't stand for the anthem. The false narrative is actually deeper than simply telling his team to stand during the anthem, it involves a fake speech the story claims he game to his team last year. You can read the whole thing here.
Once the story was proven to be false, it was reused by online trolls, and this time attributed to Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.
The story got new life this time because Texas Governor Greg Abbott Tweeted the fake news piece as truth earlier this year, and has yet to delete it after it was proven false. Today the Tweet gained new life as the demonstrations across the NFL mounted.
The only member of the Cowboys organization to take any kind of hard-stance on the issue in the past has actually been legendary Tight End Jason Witten. Last year he was quoted on Colin Kaepernick's protests:
"He certainly has his freedom to do that. The biggest thing I acknowledge is the issue has been brought to the forefront. I think we're all better because of that."
We will have to wait until tomorrow night to see if any Cowboys players participate in any form of demonstration, but as of right now, the Cowboys organization remains one of only a few teams who haven't made any official statements this weekend.