Jerry Jones Apologizes For Racially Charged Joke He Made in 2013
There's video.
On Friday afternoon, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones apologized for a brief clip that was making the rounds which showed him making a racially charged joke while he appeared to be shit-faced. The footage was obtained by a media outlet called The Blast, though (honestly) it was pretty light on background or context.
According to them, Jones was at a Dallas hotel in 2013 when a Cowboys fan, who it should probably be noted is white, approached him and asked if he could offer a congrats to his new fiancée. At that point Jones looks into the camera and says "Jennifer, congratulations on the wedding. Now, you know he’s with a black girl tonight, don’t you?" The camera then cuts away to a black dude who Jerry appears to playfully shove before walking away with his coat over his shoulder.
The Blast adds that:
On Friday evening, through the Cowboys, Jones expressed his regret at his remarks in the footage. "That comment was inappropriate," he said. "It's not who I am, and I'm sorry."
As noted by the Dallas News, Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders (who won a Super Bowl with the Cowboys back in the '95/'96 season) quickly came to Jones's defense. "I refuse to allow a moment to turn into a monument regarding a man I have known for 20 years, not just as an owner, but as a friend," Prime Time said in an email. "I won't cast judgment, on one moment when a joke went south, to capture who this man represents in a lifetime commitment of love and compassion to all ethnicities.
"A joke that was intended to add humor at the request of a fan in a lighthearted moment was taken totally out of intent. I'm sorry we're in this state of mind as a country, but if you're looking for a racist, Jerry Jones is not that guy."
This was not a particularly great Friday for the Cowboys' head honcho as, earlier in the day, a long-form story in ESPN the Magazine was published that seemed to detail a potential civil war brewing amongst the league's leadership. Jones has threatened legal action against the NFL if a contract extension for Roger Goodell is finalized. This animosity towards the commissioner reportedly stems from Goodell's handling of Ezekiel Elliott's on-and-off (now on) 6-game suspension:
Phew, lot of info there. Anyways, tons of drama in Big D. As always, really.
