Yahoo Sports Dontari Poe is latest Cowboys player to wonder about Jerry Jones' silence on racial injustice
On June 5, Adrian Peterson said NFL players planned to kneel during the national anthem to bring attention to racial injustice. In the month since, many other players, coaches, executives and even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell have shown support.
And for more than a month, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said nothing.
Jones, by far the NFL owner who does the most interviews, has not said anything about the recent social unrest or players’ plans to kneel for the anthem. Years ago he was clear that he is against kneeling during the anthem.
New Cowboys defensive tackle Dontari Poe wonders what Jones has to say about it. Poe also said he might kneel this season.
Dontari Poe wants to hear from Jerry Jones
Poe, once the 11th pick of the draft who has played eight seasons with the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs, hoped that Jones would express support. But he has noticed the Cowboys owner’s silence.
In a story by Bleacher Report’s Kalyn Kahler, the subject of Jones’ conspicuous absence was brought up.
"Haven't talked to Jerry at all," Poe told Bleacher Report. "I hope he comes out and shows his support. … You are an owner of an NFL team — you get what I'm saying? The majority of this team are these people that are being oppressed. So even if you are not going to be in the forefront, we need to know we have your support in that type of way."
Earlier this offseason fellow Cowboys defensive tackle Gerald McCoy said he wanted to hear what Jones had to say because “it’s bigger than football.” Poe’s comments were similar.
“His silence definitely means a lot because in any other situation [he] will have something to say about most things,” Poe told Bleacher Report. “I was once a proponent of doing stuff behind closed doors, and doing what I need to do not out in the forefront. ... So hopefully he is doing that, but who knows what he is doing? … Personally, I would hope that he comes out and says, ‘OK, I am willing to help, I am willing to fight, and I am willing to be with y’all.’”
Will Cowboys players take a knee?
If Jones is against players kneeling in 2020, we don’t know it yet. If he is against it like he was a few years ago, it could lead to an uncomfortable situation.
Poe told Bleacher Report that he is "definitely leaning toward" taking a knee. Kahler wrote that no Cowboys player took a knee during the anthem in 2016, when Colin Kaepernick started the movement.
"To be honest, if I did kneel, how could somebody say they don't understand it for what it is?” Poe told Kahler. “If you don't understand it, then you just don't want to know it."
It’s not like Jones can avoid the topic forever. Whenever he breaks his media silence, he’ll be questioned on where he stands with what’s going on in the world. Then we’ll see if some of his opinions have changed. Cowboys players are waiting.
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