Others around the league might have raised eyebrows at Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones’ comments the past two days about the Cowboys’ stance on the national anthem. Cowboys players, though, are on board.
They will continue to stand for the national anthem.
“He’s the boss. That’s above my pay grade,” defensive end Taco Charlton said after Thursday night’s practice. ". . . He said he wanted us to stand up. I don’t have a problem with that. I understand where he’s coming from. . . . I respect what he says. I have no problem with it.”
The Cowboys are one of the few teams never to have had a player protest during the national anthem. That is not by chance.
Owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday the Cowboys have a team policy that is clear: Players will stand for the anthem “toe on the line.” Executive vice president Stephen Jones made it even more clear Thursday in a radio interview on 1310-AM The Ticket: Standing for the anthem is a requirement, not a request.
It was not news to the team’s players.
“I think I’m going to do what I’ve always done and stand,” linebacker Sean Lee said. “Obviously, I believe that there’s social injustice that needs to change in this country that’s very serious. But I also believe that I’m going to stand for the anthem, because I feel like I’m blessed to be an American, and I’m blessed to have two grandfathers who served. These ideas are not mutually exclusive.
“I know one thing: Our locker room has stayed united. We’ve respected everybody’s opinion. We’re going to be a group that stays united and works toward a common goal.”
The Cowboys are that. To a man.
Jaylon Smith said he’s about “unity,” and DeMarcus Lawrence shrugged his shoulders and said, “It really ain’t nothing.” Jourdan Lewis wants to take a stand on social injustice but not by taking a knee.
“You’ve got to do it the right way, of course,” Lewis said. "[Colin] Kaepernick did some great things. I understand he did a lot of great things. As a team aspect, we’ve got to come together and see what can we do to actually change things. I think that’ll be more effective. Coming together as a team and understanding things need to be changed in this nation, not just with a gesture. We understand. We understand out there. But we understand we have a goal, and we need to accomplish that goal.”