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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Congratulations Jerry Jones, you're a hypocrite

Jerry Jones proved NFL owners don't care about their players

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General Manager of the Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones spent this past Monday making himself the biggest joke in the NFL. From atop his throne in “Jerry World,” he decreed all Dallas Cowboys players who refused to stand for the anthem will sit for the game.

Really?

This is the same guy that led the owners’ “Trump won’t tell us what to do” charge two weeks ago. He stood “united” with his players and locked arms as they knelt before the anthem was played.

Well played, sir. You looked like a good guy to your players and didn't enrage your Texas fan base by kneeling during the anthem. But after a visit from Trump, you don’t seem as united with your athletes.

How can you claim a united front and then flip so quickly?

There is nothing united about anything Jones is doing. And he’s full of crap anyways. He can say all he wants but come Sunday, his tune will be changing. If Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott kneel on Sunday, Jones will have to cave. He may be the worst GM in football but even he isn’t stupid enough to bench the stars of the team.

And what if the whole roster does it? Will he forfeit the game? Losses will do a lot more damage to his ticket sales than people not going to the games anymore because they don't like players kneeling during the anthem. His wallet is what all this is about anyways. He doesn’t care, one way or the other, who stands for the anthem. But his team is in Texas and that puts him more at risk of losing money with the protests than other owners.

To be clear, Jones isn’t alone here. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made a huge hypocrite out of himself as well to protect the NFL’s wallet.

"The NFL and our players are at our best when we help create a sense of unity in our country and our culture,” Goodell said in a statement. “Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players, and a failure to understand the overwhelming force for good our clubs and players represent in our communities.”

Now Goodell has reportedly sent out a letter outlining league expectations on how players will behave during the anthem, not so subtly telling players they need to stand.

If the players and clubs represent a “force for good,” why is Goodell trying to stop them from doing that good?

He’s trying to stop them because the viewership numbers are on a downturn and Goodell will do anything to stop the bleeding.

But this line straddling hogwash is just making it worse.

You catered to the progressive viewpoint when you came out against Trump and angered conservative viewpoints. Now you piss off the people who were on your side two weeks ago while not gaining back any fans who stopped watching after the display against the president.

Gentlemen, the side of this battle you choose to fight on is entirely up to you - mind you peaceful protests are a first amendment right but that’s a whole different discussion. But whichever side you choose, I encourage you to pick a side and stay with it because flipping more than Gabby Douglas is how you lose fans on both sides of the argument.

Daniel Petruccelli is the Co-Senior sports editor and can be reached atdaniel.petruccelli@ubspectrum.com

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