Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was snapped dressing up as a blind NFL official, as he celebrated Halloween over the weekend. Jones was seen sporting a black and white referee’s shirt, accompanied with a cap, whistle, sunglasses and a cain.
Discussing his outfit with Sports Illustrated he said: ” Oh yeah, I had the cane and everything. And I used it on some people, too.” Despite this the 80-year-old’s joke could well come with some consequences.
Reports suggest the costume could come under an NFL ruling which prohibits team personnel from criticising match officials.
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The rule states, team members can be punished for, “comments regarding the quality of officiating, individual calls or missed calls, the League’s officiating department, an officiating crew, or an individual game official; accusing game officials of acting with bias or in any way questioning the integrity of NFL game officials; or posting negative or derogatory/demeaning content pertaining to officiating on social media.”
Alluding to this, Jones admitted he was now ‘very close to a fine’ before going on to seemingly sarcastically admit his love for referees. He commented: “ I’m being very careful here because I’m getting real close to a fine.
“It shows how much I love them to dress up as them… how much I respect their decision-making.” It seems the 80-year-old is set to get away with it though, after a spokesperson for the NFL claimed Jones is ‘not expected to be punished’.
As a result, Jones’ son Stephen – who is chief executive of the Cowboys – called for the the league to the funny side of his dad’s costume, and insists there is nothing but ‘respect’ from the Texas-based sides towards NFL officials.
Do you think Jones should be punished for the outfit? Let us know in the comments section below.
(Image: Getty Images)
“They have a very difficult job in real time,” Stephen Jones told The K&C Masterpiece. I do think they understand you can have some humour with this stuff.
“But I can’t imagine they don’t think there’s nothing but respect that comes out of the Cowboys organisation in terms of how difficult their job is and what a good job they do, as well.” On the field the Cowboys have enjoyed an impressive start to the new season, winning six and losing two of their eight games so far.
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