Jerry Jones said he’s sorry on Friday, though it was not to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
A video of a racist remark by Dallas Cowboys owner surfaced and caused Jones to issue an apology to a Dallas newspaper after it uncovered a 2013 video where Jones made an off-color remark.
The Blast released a video of Jones at a wedding four years ago making a racial remark, apparently at the request of someone in the wedding. Later Friday, The Dallas Morning News published Jones’ apology for the video.
“That comment was inappropriate,” Jones said in a statement Friday. “It’s not who I am, and I’m sorry.”
The video is particularly harmful for Jones, who first seemed to embrace kneeling NFL players did during the National Anthem earlier in the season before later becoming a hardline opponent of the protests, demanding that his players stand and being openly critical of the league for not asking all players to stand.
Former Cowboys star Deion Sanders went to bat for his owner on Friday as well, telling the paper that Jones’ joke is not indicative of his character.
“A joke that was intended to add humor at the request of a fan in a lighthearted moment was taken totally out of intent,” Sanders said. “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.”
The apology capped a wild day of news for Jones, who was said to threaten Goodell in an ESPN story published earlier in the day. It also came on a day where it was revealed Jones’ threatened legal action against Goodell is a direct result of the fact that Goodell told Jones he would not suspend Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. He later suspended the back six games shortly before the 2017 season.
