Jerry Jones is Still Fighting Against Cowboys Players' Right to Protest by Kneeling

Jerry Jones is a hypocrite. The Dallas Cowboys owner is again trying to stifle players' right to peacefully protest by suggesting a "compromise" like he did by kneeling before the National Anthem in 2017. Kneeling protests have come back strong over the last few months and while Colin Kaepernick remains unemployed in the NFL, his original message will be louder than ever when the league starts its season next month.

In a recent interview with Emmanuel Acho, Roger Goodell said that he would support players who kneel and again pointed out that it has nothing to do with disrespecting the flag or the country.

These protests are about George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake and the countless other victims of police violence directed at black people and trying to stop the next person from becoming a victim. Cowboys defensive lineman Dontari Poe has said he will kneel and Jones plans to talk to him because he wants Poe to "be sensitive to what we're about." This is bull. The Dallas Cowboys are a collection of players and if this is what they are about, it is what the "we" in Dallas is about.

What it is certainly not about for Jones and the Dallas Cowboys is "grace." That's the word Jones used over and over while not committing to letting his players protest a couple weeks ago.

"What I do want to show and want us all to be a part of is a word called 'grace'. Grace. Not only grace in our actions, but grace in our understanding, where they're coming from."

Jones has been an NFL owner since he bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. He's had great success thanks to his ability to spot talent, while also observing a strict moral code. Under Jones, the Dallas Cowboys have been famous for only employing upstanding citizens. Character has always come first on Jones' watch, with winning a happy yet unimportant byproduct.

That's why when Jones learned about the details of Greg Hardy's domestic violence arrest and conviction, he signed him and defended him for an entire season. It's also why Aldon Smith, who has been out of the NFL since 2017 because of various legal issues, is looking really good at Cowboys training camp right now. Likewise, Jones traded for Pacman Jones after he'd been arrested six times. Those are just a few of the high-character individuals Jones has happily paid and promoted because he thought they would help him win.

So the Cowboys don't adhere to a moral code, so much as they observe a moral code and then use grace to ignore it and employ the worst people possible so long as they stand for the National Anthem. If you want to find someone who truly does not care about the flag, look no further than Jones who did ignore the National Anthem during his first season as owner so that he could hang out with Elizabeth Taylor.

Jones has proven again and again the kind of things he will stand for and that is his money and celebrity. Not the rights of the people who afford him that celebrity or made his franchise worth so much money.