This morning when I was taking my son to his freshman orientation, we were discussing the circumstances in which Jerry Jones might kick a player off the Cowboys roster. He suggested that a player committing an act of terrorism might not be enough. I laughed, mostly because it was true. He presented another hypothetical: a Cowboy is accused of mass murder — does he get cut right away?
I had to get context: was there hard evidence? He said there was a photo placing the player at the scene, and also fingerprints on the murder weapon. I said in that case Jerry would probably not kick him off immediately, instead saying something like “you don’t turn your back on family” like a very old, out of shape Dom Toretto and that the team would wait until the legal process had run its course.
As it turns out, there is one scenario where a player would definitely, according to Jerry, lose his job: if he kneeled during the national anthem. Which, I have to remind everyone, is not a protest against the anthem or the troops or whatever the president and NFL owners have stated but instead a protest against police brutality.
Dale Hansen, of course, points out the extreme hypocrisy at play better than I can right here.
I’ll just add this: maybe Jerry really is Papa John Schnatter in disguise.