Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked to comment on the reports of sexual misconduct and racism that led to Panthers owner Jerry Richardson putting his team up for sale yesterday. Jones made it clear that the whole situation has made him very sad, not for the women that Richardson is said to have sexually harassed, but for Richardson himself.
Here’s what Jones had to say to reporters (from ESPN):
“I’m very sad,” Jones said after the Cowboys’ win at the Oakland Raiders. “Jerry is one of the really, really, really outstanding men of football that I’ve ever met, and I really admire him. I know that he made it the old-fashioned way. He worked for it. He took what he made in a short time in pro football and turned it into a great business and then used that to get the Carolina franchise. So he’s a great story.”
And then, in a rather stunning display of callousness towards the victims of Richardson’s reported behavior, Jones added, “I’m really sad. I want all those kind of men we can have in the National Football League.”
Not that anyone should have expected a nuanced take from the guy who starred in these photos, but not holding the opinion that it’s actually good to have credibly accused sexual harassers owning NFL teams is a pretty low bar to clear, even for Jerry.
[ESPN]