Current:Home > MyCowboys' Jerry Jones wants more NFL owners of color. He has a lot of gall saying that now. -FinanceMind
Cowboys' Jerry Jones wants more NFL owners of color. He has a lot of gall saying that now.
View
Date:2025-04-17 08:27:09
Jerry Jones has a lot of gall. This isn't new. He's had a lot of gall since he bought the Dallas Cowboys decades ago. That gall has served Jones well and helped him build a football empire that, in the end, might end up being the richest in American sports history. But this particular moment of Jones gall is, well, the most galling of all.
In what is an incredibly staggering moment in the life of Jones, he said that he wants to push for more NFL owners of color. The story was so unbelievable it didn't seem real. I checked the date. Nope. Not April 1. It was real.
"Nobody got in on a wing and prayer any more than I did, and I really couldn't afford it," Jones said. "But I got into it and as we look and see − and we do see − the qualified potential buyers out here that can get involved and that's one way. It's not the only way.
"(There are) multiple ways to address inequity. Multiple ways to go do it. And certainly I would think about one way is to try to work to get ownership improved in the minority area. And I'm all for it and I do it. I work at it. I work at it."
That was several days ago. Jones made similar remarks in a radio interview Tuesday on the Shan & RJ show on Audacy's 105.3 The Fan: "I don’t have a lot to add in general … I’m very active, and I’m very positive about having minority potential ownership in the National Football League … The main reason I’m qualified to say that (is because) I came from the back of the pack to get to be a part of ownership. I certainly was not listed anywhere in the thousands and thousands and thousands of people on this Earth as someone that was financially qualified to own an NFL team … My position is the opposite from what I am being critiqued for … I understand because I know the times we’re in. But I want to be a good soldier here.”
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
The galling part to all of this?
Journalist Jim Trotter, a former NFL Media employee, recently filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL. Part of the suit alleges that Jones said, in front of Trotter and others: "If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire."
So Jones saying now, literally just days after Trotter's accusations became public, that the league needs more diversity among its ownership, is really something.
Jim Trotter alleges NFL racial discrimination. His claims are huge problem for the league.
Really, really something.
You see, Jones is a majority owner, and people like him make the decisions about their teams and the league. He has been the centrifuge of NFL power for some time. I'm unaware of any extensive effort by Jones to bring in owners of color. It may have happened but I've just never heard about it.
The Cowboys are also one of the NFL teams that have never had a Black head coach. Why should anyone believe he'd push to get owners of color but hasn't even hired a Black head coach? He's owned the team since 1989.
It's possible this topic has been a passion of Jones' for decades and he's spoken about it repeatedly and privately with other owners or Commissioner Roger Goodell. Maybe also in the past Jones has spoken publicly in this way before about this desire to diversify the ownership ranks and I'm missing those comments.
However, and this is important, even if all of that did happen, it wouldn't nullify the fact that Jones is talking publicly about it now. The timing is the problem. It reeks of public relations and a reaction to Trotter's lawsuit.
To me, Jones saying these things gives even more weight to Trotter's claims that were already highly credible.
Jones has denied Trotter's allegations and did so again to ESPN.
"Jim's a friend and I think a lot of him," Jones said. "I hate that we've got some litigation and hopefully we will address all of that, but the overall concern I would say is just not accurate."
Jones added this: "You know the financial hurdles for everything has gone up, but percentage-wise there are qualified people out here. If they aren't here this minute, they're on their way because that's what's happening in this country is people do gain on it and many of the people that recently have gotten involved in the NFL might not have been able to do it 20 years ago.
Vikings' Alexander Mattison reveals racial abuse from fans after fumble in loss to Eagles
"So, continuing to share thoughts and ideas with other people about being involved and from ownership is something that I can speak to. I've wanted it when I couldn't afford it and I am a big disciple, so to speak, that you can do it."
No one is saying Jones is racist. I am, however, saying that on this subject, Jones is full of it.
It seems more that Trotter's lawsuit caught Jones by surprise and stunned both him and the league. This was Jones' way of trying to minimize the damage. It didn't work.
Despite the massive amount of gall.
veryGood! (8178)
Related
- Realtor group picks top 10 housing hot spots for 2025: Did your city make the list?
- Legendary shipwreck's treasure of incalculable value will be recovered by underwater robot, Colombia says
- Scientists discover 240-million-year-old dinosaur that resembles a mythical Chinese dragon
- Network founded by Koch brothers says it will stop spending on Nikki Haley's presidential campaign
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Peter Anthony Morgan, lead singer of reggae band Morgan Heritage, dies at age 46
- U.S. Air Force member dies after setting himself on fire outside Israeli Embassy in Washington in apparent protest against war in Gaza
- 2 officers shot and killed a man who discharged a shotgun, police say
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Husband of BP worker pleads guilty in insider trading case after listening to wife's work calls, feds say
Ranking
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Bill Bradley reflects on a life of wins and losses
- Version 1.0: Negro Leagues statistics could soon be entered into MLB record book.
- Duke’s Scheyer wants the ACC to implement measures to prevent court-storming after Filipowski injury
- Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
- No retirement plan, no problem: These states set up automatic IRAs for workers
- David Sedaris on why you should dress like a corpse
- Dishy-yet-earnest, 'Cocktails' revisits the making of 'Virginia Woolf'
Recommendation
Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
Why Lupita Nyong'o Detailed Her “Pain and Heartbreak” After Selema Masekela Split
Supreme Court to hear challenges to Texas, Florida social media laws
We Went Full Boyle & Made The Ultimate Brooklyn Nine-Nine Gift Guide
Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
'Bob Marley: One Love' tops box office again in slow week before 'Dune: Part Two' premiere
US government may sue PacifiCorp, a Warren Buffett utility, for nearly $1B in wildfire costs
Peter Anthony Morgan, lead singer of reggae band Morgan Heritage, dies at age 46