I know, I know, he means well.
With professional athletes more expressive about social justice causes than ever before, NFL star Dak Prescott believes that Cowboys players will inevitably join the fray despite their plantation owner Jerry Jones’ wishes to the contrary.
However, the two-time Pro Bowler believes that his teammates shouldn’t subscribe to groupthink, and instead, they should each do whatever the spirit moves them to do, according to ESPN.
“That’s what this country is about, the freedom to do that, the freedom to express yourself,” Prescott said Wednesday. “We heard [Jerry] Jones talk about grace and sharing grace and having grace with players in what they want to do. If I had it my way, that’s exactly what we’d do is express ourselves individually, but love and support one another collectively.”
Head coach Mike McCarthy seems to agree.
“I think it’s what’s best for all of us,” he said on Thursday. “I think the individuality of expressing yourself is part of that decision. I saw Dak’s comments this morning and I think he expressed it very well. I thought he hit the nail right on the head, and that’s the way we’ll move forward.”
Dak isn’t wrong. Players should absolutely express themselves however they deem fit. Be it peacefully protesting the national anthem, supporting various organizations and causes in line with their ideologies or slapping the shit out of anyone rocking a MAGA hat. But he and his teammates also play for the same guy who once made the following threat in 2017:
“We cannot in any way give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag. We know that there is a serious debate in this country about those issues, but there is no question in my mind, that the [NFL] and the Dallas Cowboys are going to stand up for the flag.”
Jones’ stance was straightforward: Any player who “disrespected” the flag by kneeling wouldn’t play. Period.
During a press conference in August, he seemingly softened this stance by declaring that he would extend “grace” and “understanding” to players who decide to kneel in light of our perilous times, but how much grace and understanding can you expect from a team owner who treats his players like sharecroppers?
“These are very sensitive times,” Jones said at the time. ”I have nothing to prove as far as where I’m standing with the flag and where the Cowboys stand. I have nothing to prove regarding my players and my support of our players.”
Does this really sound like a dude who’s seen the light and is about to allow his players to kneel during the national anthem without backlash? Hell nah.
As we previously reported at The Root, Ezekiel Elliott was one of several NFL stars in June who demanded that the league condemn racism and admit to silencing Colin Kaepernick. So with Cowboys players clearly becoming more and more vocal on these issues, they’re clearly on an inevitable collision course with Jerry “That’s Massa to You” Jones.