(The Nation) -- f the Dallas Cowboys are truly “America’s team,” it’s a chilling indication of the state of this country. Team owner Jerry Jones and his mediocrity of a son Stephen ecently stated without equivocation that anyone who does not stand in a position of “respect” for the national anthem before games will be denied employment and cut from the team. Donald Trump was thrilled with their brutish edict, but the league less so. This is because the Joneses chose to spew their alt-right marching orders at a moment when the NFL and NFL Players Association were engaging in tense negotiations to try to come together for a comprehensive policy for players who protest that respects their basic constitutional and collective-bargaining rights. The Joneses also made these comments days after New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch went public and said that players on his team would not be penalized if they chose to take a knee, raise a fist, or otherwise use the anthem space to protest police violence or racial inequity.
Two young stars of the team, quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott might have stood in modest solidarity with protesting players. Yet with the sharp timing of an orchestrated press operation, Prescott immediately and resolutely backed the Jones duo, saying some words that aren’t going to be carved in the side of a mountain anytime soon. “I never protest,” he said. “I never protest during the anthem, and I don’t think that’s the time or the venue to do so. The game of football has always brought me such peace, and I think it does the same for a lot of people—a lot of people playing the game, a lot of people watching the game, a lot of people who have any impact of the game—so when you bring such controversy to the stadium, to the field, to the game it takes away. It takes away from that, it takes away from the joy and the love that football brings a lot of people”
Ezekiel Elliott, who was suspended for six games last season due to allegations of violence against women, had this to say:
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