How will Jerry Jones react to players peacefully protesting during 2020 season? | Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast
Yahoo Sports senior NFL writers Charles Robinson and Terez Paylor discuss how Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be under a microscope regarding how he reacts to players protesting during the national anthem.
Video Transcript
TEREZ PAYLOR: There's going to definitely be attention placed on Jerry Jones as well. He owns the NFL's richest franchise. He is probably the biggest celebrity of the owners.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yes.
TEREZ PAYLOR: It's going to be interesting to see if, A, Cowboys, like, do it-- if they kneel. You know, I think Jerry Jones is an interesting spot because, you know, there's never been more public sentiment toward the players' side in this deal. And there's a real push to keep raising awareness about these causes. And you know, I just think that interesting situation Jerry being in. Don't you?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Look, there's no hiding Jerry Jones's relationship with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who's repeatedly made this a political issue for himself. He's going to run his 2020 election, and this will be part of the platform.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Oh, yeah.
CHARLES ROBINSON: When he goes out to his rallies and he starts doing all these things, he's going to repeat that 2016-2017 formula again, OK? There's no hiding what Jerry's relationship is with Donald Trump. And I don't think Jerry even try-- he's not really trying to hide now.
TEREZ PAYLOR: No, he's not.
CHARLES ROBINSON: He's-- you know, he's said that Donald's spoken to him-- like all these things. So he becomes the bellwether. And what I mean by that is, if you really want to know broadly where the NFL is at on this-- if you really want to know if things have changed, you're going to end up looking at Jerry Jones, and you're going to go, OK.
Either you're going to tell me that Jerry Jones is going to say to his players, "You know what? I hear you. What you say is important is important to me. And I am going to sit here, and I'm going to repeat what Roger said. We support peaceful protests. I see the difference between the flag and what you're trying to say here. And if you want to kneel, by all means, kneel."
If no players kneel, everyone is going to look at the Cowboys and go, it's the same as it was in 2017. Nothing's changed. You know, Shannon Sharpe came out and said what, honestly, has been whispered for years and years about the Cowboys-- that Jerry Jones threatened players, that if you kneel, there are going to be repercussions.
Listen, if guys don't kneel in Cincinnati, OK. If guys don't kneel in Jacksonville, OK. But Dallas is Dallas, OK? There's the NFL and then there's the Dallas Cowboys because of how Jerry has set this up. There's Roger Goodell, and there's Jerry Jones, who is called the shadow commissioner in the NFL, OK? All this stuff is-- it matters. And so, it's going to matter what happens in Dallas-- absolutely.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Also, if Dallas players kneel and players around the league kneel and owners and the commissioner are like, OK, knock yourself out, there's going to be a part of me that wonders how much of that has to do with the fact it's an election year. When this first became an issue, it was like, OK, they're going to have to deal with this guy for four more years, right?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Right.
TEREZ PAYLOR: And that's certainly different than a few more months of this guy.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Absolutely.
TEREZ PAYLOR: I'm just trying to say it here. You can not downplay that they were worried about four more years with the President of the United States killing them whenever he wanted.
CHARLES ROBINSON: What Terez is saying right now is, he's saying that he's wondering if owners are doing the math.
TEREZ PAYLOR: Yeah.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Right?
TEREZ PAYLOR: No, that's right.
CHARLES ROBINSON: That if they're seeing--
TEREZ PAYLOR: I mean, aren't you?
CHARLES ROBINSON: They're doing the math. Yeah.
TEREZ PAYLOR: They always do the math, right?
CHARLES ROBINSON: Well, sure. You know, are you-- yeah, four years versus four months is a big difference. And so, if you're sitting there, and you're going, "Hey, you know, politically, he's on the ropes. Maybe we feel like he's not going to get re-elected--" although, hey, you know, I hear on my Twitter all the time, no, he's going to get re-elected in a landslide.
That's what people keep telling me. You know, Donald Trump's base is going to get re-elected in a landslide. We'll see how this all unfolds. But I think owners read polls, too. I think they take the temperature of the political landscape, the fan landscape. And I think sometimes, they change their positions based on, you know, what's going on around them. So yeah, I mean, I would agree with you. Like, I'm sure some guys are doing some math right now, including in the league office.
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