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Yahoo Sports NFL Podcast - Jerry Jones' anthem protest policy isn't really anything new

Charles Robinson and Terez Paylor discuss Jerry Jones' "new" policy for how the Cowboys will handle national anthem protests this season.

Video Transcript

CHARLES ROBINSON: Jerry basically said, like, you know, before he talked about, you know, kneeling with grace and like all this different stuff-- it's all ambiguous, and Terez and I were like, we don't really know what this means. He's basically trying to do the same thing he did in 2017, which was kneel before the anthem, stand for the anthem, which, as I heard it in my ears, I'm like, that's not a change. (LAUGHING) We're like, that's like the same thing he did three years ago. So while the league has seemed to move into a different space, you're literally reliving 2017 all over again.

TEREZ PAYLOR: Good luck with that after what just happened to Jacob Blake. That-- no. Just stop co-opting [BLEEP], please. Like, you know, like, just let them kneel. Like, Charles, I think we've talked about this.

Like, players are just trying to express themselves. And like, the issue with what Jerry wants to do was let them kneel before the anthem and then they all stand for the anthem [? as ?] [? if-- ?] [? that ?] is not a protest. They're just trying to express themselves.

And I thought our colleague, Shalise Manza Young, who's great, wrote a great column about this. Like, she pointed out like, there's a history of like, trying to compromise these efforts for Black Americans in this country. And look, whether it's Plessy versus Ferguson or Jim Crow, red lining, whatever, you can see that.

And one other thing to remember, too, is that kneeling was a compromise. Colin Kaepernick began by sitting during the anthem. And then he talked to Nate Boyer, a former Army Green Beret, who suggest he began kneeling, so he did it. The answer here is easy. Like, just let them do it and let it go.

It'll keep moving, I promise. It'll keep moving. You're making it a story by trying to co-opt that. When I've asked players, how would you feel if teammates don't kneel with you, there's an understanding there. There's a middle ground to be reached.

Like, you don't have to join it. Just understand the cause. Like, that's it. That's all they're asking for. And don't try to undermine that cause.

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