Byron Allen wants to take Jerry Jones up on his offer to help potential Black NFL owner
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on Sunday that he would walk across Texas to help Blacks and minority become owners to benefit the NFL. Media mogul Byron Allen made a plea to take Jones up on his offer on Monday with a letter to several journalists media outlets, including The Star-Telegram. Allen wrote: “Jerry, I am very happy to hear about your commitment to achieving a majority Black owner of an NFL team.
Here’s the great news: you do not have to walk across Texas. All you have to do is get on your private jet and fly to Los Angeles and sit down with me. I am highly confident that we can achieve this long-overdue goal by working together.
Jerry, this accomplishment will not only be great for the NFL, but more importantly, it will be great for America!!! I hope to see you soon!!! Continued success, Byron Allen. ” Allen was simply responding to Jones, who made his comments as part of a defense against racist comments attributed to him in a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the NFL by former NFL Network employee Jim Trotter. As a part of that complaint, Trotter mentioned what he felt were racist comments by Jones that he felt weren’t properly addressed by NFL Network officials.
Trotter claims that in August 2020, when he asked Jones about the lack of Black employees in decision-making positions at the NFL, the Cowboys owner gave an incendiary response. “If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire,” said Jones according to the complaint. Jones said the comments attributed to him were not accurate in a statement released by team officials last week and reiterated that stance following Sunday’s 30-10 victory against the New York Jets.
He added that he has worked hard to get minority owners in the NFL. The NFL has no Black majority owners among its 32 teams and only three Black head coaches, while roughly 60% of the league’s players are Black. “Spent a lot of time talking to them, showing them and talking to them about how they could get in the NFL,” Jones said.
“Multiple ways to address inequity. Multiple ways to go do it. And certainly I would think about one way is to try to work to get ownership improved in the minority area.
And I’m all for it and I do it. I work at it. I work at it.
” Jones understands the financial hurdles that have impacted Blacks from gaining ownership, most notably the rising cost of NFL franchises and league rule that a majority must put down 30 percent of the cost. Jones said it is very important to have continued dialogue and discussions about diversifying the NFL’s ownership ranks and believes his comments to Trotter were misrepresented. “It’s very important.
We want that. We work at it,” Jones said. “Really, that was the intent — my intent when we were talking and I regret that with Jim.
I do. I really do, because he’s a friend. ” Jones said his focus and purpose is to do what’s best for the NFL.
“I love the National Football League,” Jones said. “I love football, and if we can improve it by having people that aren’t in ownership today in ownership, I’ll walk across Texas to do it. ” Allen said Jones doesn’t need to walk across Texas.
He just needs to sit down with him California. Allen made a bid for the Denver Broncos but was not a finalist and he had planned to bid on the Washington Football team. Allen recently made a $10 billion bid to purchase Disney’s ABC television network and local stations and the FX and National Geographic cable channels.
Allen is the founder of Allen Media Group, which owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U. S. markets.
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