Before Monday night's game against the Arizona Cardinals, the Dallas Cowboys, coaching staff and owner Jerry Jones locked arms and took a knee in a response to comments by President Donald Trump over the weekend.
During an event in Alabama on Friday night, Trump said NFL owners should fire the “sons of bitches” who protest on the sidelines during the playing of the National Anthem at NFL games.
The Cowboys did not take a knee during the playing of the national anthem in an attempt clarify that the kneeling meant unity as a team and was not in opposition to the flag or those who serve and protect the nation, ESPN’s Lisa Salters reported Cowboys’ Executive Vice President and Jones’ daughter, Charlotte, said before the game.
After the game, Jones did not repsond directly to Donald Trump’s comments, but expressed pride in his team that they both stood and respected the flag and also wanted to demonstrate they were unified.
“I made my mind up on this issue that I wasn’t going to comment other than I’m very proud of the fact that the Dallas Cowboys and our players have always stood for the flag and the recognition for the flag always,” Jones said, according to the New York Times.
The White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders criticized the national anthem protests Monday saying, “I think if this, the (protest) is really for them about police brutality they should probably protest the officers on the field who are protecting them instead of the American flag.”
Sanders attempted to clarify her comments a few minutes later.
"I was kind of pointing out the hypocrisy of the fact that if the goal is and the message is one of police brutality, then that doesn't seem very appropriate to protest the American flag,” Sanders said, according to CNN. “I'm not sure how those two things would be combined.”
Trump responded to the action by Jones with a tweet on Tuesday morning, drawing attention “the great anger” of fans who booed at the Cowboys taking a knee.
Trump also tweeted that standing for the anthem showed “great progress.”
The Cardinals initially invited the Cowboys to demonstrate unity with their team by locking arms with military members before the game, but the Cowboys wanted to demonstrate as their own team.
Taking a knee originated last season with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick silently took a knee during the playing of the national anthem to protest police brutality and injustices to people of color in America.
Since Kaepernick’s initial protests last season, a handful players have joined in, but nothing like the showing this weekend. Over 100 players reportedly participated in taking a knee after Trump’s comments.
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