Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones threatened to sit-out players who chose to protest during the national anthem, just weeks after kneeling side-by-side with them.
“If there is anything disrespecting the flag, then we will not play. Period,” Jones said Sunday night after his team lost to the Green Bay Packers. “We’re going to respect the flag and I’m going to create the perception of it.”
Jones and his Cowboys front office knelt with his players before the anthem last month following President Donald Trump’s remarks that owners should fire players who refuse to stand for the anthem. Jones then stood and linked arms with them during the anthem.
He cites a recent phone call with Trump for his new stance.
For Sunday’s game, all the Cowboys players stood during the anthem. But Damontre Moore and David Irving chose to raise their fists at the end of the performance, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Jones denied knowledge of their protest when he made his comments. But he did agree with Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to walk out of the Indianapolis Colts game on Sunday afternoon after many players from the San Francisco 49ers knelt during the anthem.
“He felt that not standing for the flag is disrespectful. I do, too,” Jones told reporters of Pence. “The league in my mind should absolutely take the rules we have on the books and make sure that we do not give the perception that we’re disrespecting the flag.”