Two days ago, The Washington Post published a story about Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The title of the column read, “Jerry Jones helped transform the NFL, except when it comes to race.”
This story included a photo of Jones when he was 14 years old. He was peering over a crowd of white students at North Little Rock High School in Arkansas.
The group of students that Jones was near in the photo were blocking the path to the school for six Black students.
As you’d expect, Jones has received a lot of criticism for his involvement in this photo. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith doesn’t believe that’s fair.
“I’m pissed off, but not for reasons people may think,” Smith said. “I’m very, very fond of Jerry Jones, and I’m not hiding that from anyone. Is his record perfect? No, but I’m pissed off because he doesn’t deserve what just happened. He doesn’t deserve it.
“One report said he was 14 years old. Another report said he was 15 years old. At minimum, that was 65 years ago.”
Smith has developed a strong friendship with Jones over the past few years.
Jones actually addressed the picture from 1957 after the Cowboys defeated the Giants on Thanksgiving.
“I didn’t know at the time the monumental event really that was going on,” Jones said, via ESPN. “I’m sure glad that we’re a long way from that. I am. That would remind me [to] just continue to do everything we can to not have those kinds of things happen.”