President Trump this morning took to Twitter to say he talked to Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones yesterday following the team's demonstration prior to Monday's game against the Cardinals. Jones helped organize the pregame effort, which saw the team kneel while linked arm-in-arm before standing prior to the national anthem. Trump wrote, "Jerry is a winner who knows how to get things done. Players will stand for Country!" (TWITTER.com, 9/27). In Dallas, Brandon George reported Jones on his weekly radio show on KRLD-FM yesterday suggested that the Cowboys' actions "could become a template for teams across the NFL." Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said that the team has not "discussed any potential demonstrations before or during the anthem for the coming weeks" following their pre-anthem kneel on Monday. Cowboys WR Dez Bryant said of the team's demonstration, "I feel like that was a clear shot at Trump, sitting on that knee like that because you just can't do that. ... We showed great unity. That's what that was for. I feel like that was needed." Cowboys TE Jason Witten: "There were comments that were made and it was hurtful, and we wanted to show that unity together" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/27).
SEMINAL MOMENT: In Dallas, Charles Scudder writes under the header, "The Cowboys' Kneel Is A Bigger Deal For The Historically Divisive America's Team." The entire organization "joining in support of a social justice concern was uncharacteristic of the Cowboys." It somehow "means more that America’s Team ... took a knee." They "earned that nickname after years of surrounding themselves in patriotic symbolism at a time when support of American institutions was at record lows" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/27). In Ft. Worth, Mac Engel writes the Cowboys "creatively found a way to appease both sides in this politically charged, over-sensitive time we currently reside." This "was a business decision all the way" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/26). FS1's Colin Cowherd noted Jones is a "great businessman," and Monday's display was a "kissing babies move." Cowherd: "He kneels to appease the players and he stands for the anthem to appease the upper deck. That's the game for a really smart businessman.” But FS1’s Jason Whitlock did not believe it was a "wise move" for Jones. Whitlock: "I don't think he placated or satisfied anybody. I think the boos spoke very loudly inside that stadium about what the customer base thinks about the bending of the knee, even though it was before the national anthem" ("Speak For Yourself," FS1, 9/26). Meanwhile, Comedy Central's Trevor Noah mentioned the booing at Univ. of Phoenix Stadium on Monday and said, "So you can't kneel during the anthem, you can't kneel before the anthem. It's gotten so intense I bet if a player drops their car keys they're probably like, ‘Ohhh, I guess I'll just walk home'” ("The Daily Show," Comedy Central, 9/26).
GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN: In Dallas, Mark Davis writes the decisions the Cowboys made "fall far short of what countless Cowboys fans wanted: a complete departure from the shenanigans of Sunday." Many fans "looked forward to a complete absence of such acting out as their team prepared to take the field." Davis: "After weeks of signaling that our team was cut from different cloth, that the owner and coach wanted no part of such gestures, the Cowboys showed us otherwise." The Cowboys "could not resist gestures that sadly linked them to Sunday's displays." The team did "not have the guts to distance from this whole sorry scene" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/27). The DALLAS MORNING NEWS' Tim Cowlishaw writes playing in "conservative Dallas, the Cowboys were never likely to be out front in any protest even if injustice for minorities is as likely to be found here as the next town." If their protest "offends enough people," the league and its players "will pay for it." Cowlishaw: "I still believe that number will be very low as long as the overall product is good (a continuing concern), but I certainly hear from emailers and through Twitter that those people are out there, so time will tell." It could be that the Cowboys and other teams are "mostly done with the protest business after this" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/27).
