NFL told Jerry Jones not to speak about national anthem issue, per report

Lorenzo Reyes | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Jerry Jones draws line in the sand on national anthem SportsPulse: From Oxnard, NFL insider Jarrett Bell reacts to Jerry Jones stating that all his players are required to stand during the national anthem.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones made headlines about his controversial mandate that players stand “toe on the line” for the playing of the national anthem. The NFL, apparently, told him to stop making them.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jones was prepared to do a number of interviews with local media members Sunday evening in Oxnard, Calif., where the team holds its training camp, when he and a member of the Cowboys public relations staff told media that questions about the national anthem issue were off limits.

The reason Jones and the public relations staff gave, according to the Star-Telegram, was that the NFL instructed the Cowboys owner to stop publicly commenting on the issue.

On Wednesday, Jones spoke at the team’s first press conference of training camp and indicated that the team would not support players who protest social injustice by choosing not to stand on the field during the national anthem.

Then one day later, Jones’ son, Cowboys executive vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones, doubled down and hinted that players who don’t follow the team’s mandate would be cut.

“If they want to be a Dallas Cowboy, yes,” he said in an interview with KTCK 96.7 FM when asked whether he thought players would obey the directive.

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The stance was a departure from a recent pact between the NFL and the NFL Players Association agreeing that “no new rules relating to the anthem will be issued or enforced” until a firm policy had been agreed to.

“That was put on hold,” Jerry Jones said Wednesday. “It did not impact our position, my position, relative to the Cowboys. Our position is real clear: You should stand.”

One of the local television stations, Fox 4, said that Jones and the public relations staffer informed anchor Mike Doocy at the last minute that national anthem questions were prohibited, prompting the station to cancel the interview.

“I don’t think so,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said Sunday in an interview with NFL Network when asked if Jerry Jones’ comments impede the progress to forge a national anthem policy compromise. “Jerry is just one owner and I have a lot of respect for Jerry in many ways. He’s entitled to his feelings. I don’t have to agree with them, but it is what it is. We don’t agree on everything. But I do feel strongly that talking together around the shared concerns and keeping our minds and hearts and spirits on the issues because the issues are really what’s at risk here.”

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.