Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced on Sunday that if a player disrespects the flag then he cannot play in the game after a reporter informed him that two players raised their fist after the anthem. From NBC Dallas-Fort Worth:
Jones said “If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag then we will not play. Okay? Do you understand? If we are disrespecting the flag then we won’t play, period. But we are going to respect the flag and I’m going to create the perception of it, and we have. I’m not aware and I wouldn’t know what you are talking about, I’m not aware of that but if you say you saw it, then you saw it, but we as a team are very much on the page together, we’ve made our expression that we are together , I’m very supportive of the team, but under no circumstances will the Dallas Cowboys, I don’t care what happens, under no circumstances will we as an organization, or as coaches or players not support and stand and recognize and honor the flag. Period.”
The entire Cowboys team stood for the national anthem on Sunday before the game against the Green Bay Packers. Cowboys players Damontre Moore and David Irving raised their fists after the anthem. Jones did not know about this until a reporter asked him.
Two weeks ago, the entire team, along with Jones, locked arms and knelt before the anthem. Then they all stood, with arms still locked, for the anthem before they played against the Arizona Cardinals.
The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) was not pleased with Jones’s decision:
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has changed his mind about players kneeling during the anthem because President Donald Trump has made the anthem about patriotism. From The Miami Herald:
“Trump has made [standing for anthem] about patriotism,” Ross said before the Dolphins game against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. “It’s so important if that’s what the country is looking at to look at [the protest] differently.”And so Ross now believes all NFL players and certainly his players — the Dolphins have had players kneeling for all but one of their past 19 games dating back to last season — to all stand. Ross wants the Dolphins to stand before Sunday’s game when a military band will play the national anthem.
Despite this change of heart, Kenny Stills, Julius Thomas, and Michael Thomas did not appear on the sideline during the anthem.
Vice President Mike Pence left the San Francisco 49ers/Indianapolis Colts game after some players knelt for the anthem.
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