Jenkins calls for other owners to speak out against 'bully' Jerry Jones
Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys is widely seen as one of, if not the most powerful owner in the NFL, and therefore his words carry more weight than most around the league.
So, when Jones said Wednesday that members of his team must "stand for the (national) anthem, toe on the line," despite the NFL's new policy allowing players to remain in the locker room, it was a viewed as a strong message to everyone across the league to fall in line.
Malcolm Jenkins, one of the founding members of the Players Coalition, called for all owners, including the Philadelphia Eagles' Jeffrey Lurie, who disagreed with Jones to make their feelings public.
"Silence is compliance," the Eagles safety said Friday, according to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Related: Trump applauds Jerry Jones for Cowboys' anthem policy
Jenkins went on to call Jones a "bully" and said he was lucky to not have to work for an owner who would try and "intimidate" his players.
Malcolm Jenkins calls Cowboys owner Jerry Jones a bully after Jones recently said he would make his players stand for the anthem. pic.twitter.com/noeHrLIlZZ
- Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) July 27, 2018
Jenkins recently expressed his disappointment in NFL owners for again fueling the view that they're "unpatriotic" by passing the new anthem rule, which is currently on hold as the league and the NFL Players Association work toward a revised resolution.
"The rule was disappointing," Jenkins said, according to NBC News' Jacob Taylor. "But more importantly, the rhetoric that they used to explain why they put in the rule was the most disappointing because they went back to talking about the flag, the anthem, and having respect when, for a year and a half, they've been hand in hand with us. Seeing what we've been doing in the community."
"We've walked them through this process to show them: 'This is what we're, you know, upset about. These are the things that we're fighting for.' And to have them tell us: 'Oh, yes. We can support that. Yeah, you guys are doing good things.' But then for them to go back to that rhetoric and just further push the narrative that - we need to be respectful and that we're somehow unpatriotic, it just fed into that narrative when they know that that's not the case."
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