Have Dallas Cowboys been given the green light to individually protest during anthem?
Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy not only co-signed quarterback Dak Prescott’s wish for the players to have the individual freedom to protest social justice during the national anthem this season, but he made a declarative statement that it would be the plan the team intends to follow.
McCarthy said the Cowboys will have more talks with team owner Jerry Jones, but he was definitive in adopting Prescott’s action plan.
“I think it’s what’s best for all of us,” McCarthy said. “I think the individuality of expressing yourself is part of that decision. I saw Dak’s comments this morning and I think he expressed it very well. I thought he hit the nail right on the head and that’s the way we’ll move forward.”
Defensive end Tyrone Crawford went a step further and confirmed that players have been given the green light to protest.
“We definitely have the green light on all that,” Crawford said. “But also just try to find something that is going to make a boom and not just something people look at one time and kinda just swipe by and go like, ‘Oh that’s great, the Cowboys did that and swipe by it.’ We want to do something that makes a boom and people remember and actually create some change.”
Asked to clarify on the green light on anthem protests, Crawford said, “Just whatever we are feeling to express how we feel and say what we want to say.”
Until Jones confirms, questions remain whether he agrees with the new anthem plan and will stand down with his objections to the prospect of a Cowboys player taking a knee.
Jones has previously outlawed the players from doing anything considered disrespectful of the flag in the past, saying “they will stand with toes on the line or not play.”
No Cowboys player has ever taken a knee in protest during the anthem.
But while he still believes the players should stand for the anthem, he has seemingly softened his stance in light of George Floyd’s death by a Minneapolis police officer in May by requesting “grace” in trying to find a solution that supports his players rights as well as feelings of some fans and sponsors who find the protests offensive.
Still, Jones has said that his goal was to find a compromise with the players possibly kneeling before the anthem and standing during it with the focus of making a unified demonstration as a team, similar to what they did when he knelt and stood with the players before a game in 2017.
Prescott didn’t say what he was going to do personally, but acknowledges that recent events, including the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin two weeks ago to go along with the Floyd tragedy, call for a new stance on the protests during the anthem. The players should have the individual right to choose.
“I sure hope so. That’s what this country is about, the freedom to do that, the freedom to express yourself,” Prescott said when asked if he thought that players should have the ability to protest. “We heard Mr. Jones talk about grace and sharing grace and having grace with players in what they want to do. If I had it my way that’s exactly what we’d do ... express ourselves individually, but love and support one another collectively.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s going to be about expressing one idea,” Prescott continued. “That’s where we are as a country right now. Individuals have different thoughts, different perceptions and different feelings than their neighbor. So for you to force your opinion and your perceptions on somebody I think isn’t very important right now, it doesn’t matter.
“Right now, it’s about listening to the other man, having empathy for him and understanding where he may be coming from. I think, if anything, it’s to see guys expressing themselves and ... see people supporting one another and loving one another.”
McCarthy agrees and says that is how the Cowboys will move forward.
Have McCarthy and the players communicated their plan with Jones?
“I would say that those conversations are ongoing,” McCarthy said.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 12:40 PM.
