San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman accused Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones of having “the old plantation mentality,” when it comes to his rules against anthem protests.
During an interview with Jarrett Bell of USA Today Sports, Sherman said of Jones: “The owner of the Dallas Cowboys, with the old plantation mentality. What did you expect?”
Last week, Jones told reporters that his players would stand for the playing of the national anthem, “toe on the line.” On Monday, the NFL told Jones to cease all discussion of the anthem issue.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) are currently working on a compromise agreement to the anthem policy that the league passed in May. That policy, stated that all players on the field had to be standing and respecting the flag and anthem. While at the same time, the rule allowed players who didn’t wish to respect the flag or anthem to remain in the locker room.
However, the NFLPA took exception to not being included in the decision making process which led to the new policy, and filed a grievance with the league. After news of the Miami Dolphins internal discipline policy for anthem protesters was leaked to the media, the NFL and NFLPA issued a joint statement suspending the new policy until the two sides reached an agreement on a new policy.
“They’re having the conversations; that’s awesome,” Sherman told USA Today. “But there are unintended consequences. If they did this [original policy] to appease people, they didn’t appease anyone. It’s like putting a Band-Aid over a broken leg.”
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