Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Locker Room Speech-Incorrect Attribution!
Summary of eRumor:
In a now-famous locker room speech, Jerry Jones ordered Dallas Cowboys players to stand during the national anthem.
The Truth:
Jerry Jones didn’t deliver this locker room speech before the Dallas Cowboys’ season opener on Sept. 11, 2016.
A Texas man named Richie Newberry posted the locker room speech on Facebook, and it appears to be a work of fan fiction.
The message resonated with fans who disagreed with players following 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s lead and kneeling during the national anthem in protest of social injustice within the criminal justice system.
Newberry’s post imagines Jones, the flamboyant owner of the Cowboys, telling his players that “you WILL stand and you WILL put your hands over your hearts” during the national anthem:
“You gentlemen are world class athletes, but you are also actors. You perform on a stage that is 100 yards long. Today, you play the role of a patriotic super hero. You will play this role well because you know that millions of children will be watching and looking at your example.” Then his inner fire started to shine through as he said quietly “but most of all I want you to remember, you are the actors, but this is MY stage and you will play the role I tell you to.”
Within days, the post had been shared nearly 300,000 times. As more and more people read and shared the post, there seemed to be growing misunderstanding that Jones had actually given the locker room speech. And websites liked the Daily Snark falsely attributed the locker room speech to Jones in false reports, which fueled the misconception.
In reality, none of the Cowboys’ players kneeled in protest during the national anthem, and Jones praised his team on his weekly call-in radio show in Dallas the following Monday morning:
“I got to give a big pat on the back to our entire team, our coaching staff, our entire organization. We strongly, strongly support the flag. In every way, we support — it’s almost ridiculous to be saying it — the people that for generations and generations have given it all up so we can get out here and show off in front of millions of people on television. We respect that so much. That’s the real business.
“The forum of the NFL and the forum on television is a very significant thing. I’m for it being used in every way we can to support the great, great contributors in our society and that’s people that have supported America, the flag, and there’s no reason not to go all out right there. For anybody to use parts of that visibility to do otherwise is really disappointing.”
So, this locker room speech didn’t come from Jerry Jones — but, given his comments, he might agree with it.