Jerry Jones confirmed he made an expletive comment to Robert Kraft
"It’s probably accurate that I did express myself in probably a way that’s not in good taste.”
Jerry Jones seemed to express some remorse about his comment to Robert Kraft in a radio interview on Friday.
The Cowboys owner reportedly told the Patriots owner “don’t [expletive] with me” during the NFL owners’ meeting in New York City on Tuesday. In an interview with 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Jones essentially confirmed the comment he made to Kraft.
“Well, first of all, I have just gotten used to the fact that when [I’m] saying something, it’s highly likely it could be being recorded or it could be being heard and will be repeated,” Jones said when asked if he was frustrated his comment was leaked. “I’ve just gotten used to that, so consequently, I really don’t say things that — it’s almost like every time I talk it’s like talking to you guys, over the air. So, that goes with it.”
Jones continued to say that he was upset about the leak but also shared some reflection in the comment he made to Kraft.
“It’s not surprising to me or, frankly, disappointing to me that anything that’s said in a meeting that you would think would really have a lot of real exclusivity or protection so that you could really express your feelings. It’s not surprising to me that it’s out. When you are in those situations, you express yourself with people you know, people you are around a lot, you express yourself in different ways. I would say that in this particular case, it’s probably accurate that I did express myself in probably a way that’s not in good taste.”
The matter that Jones and Kraft argued about was to determine if the league’s compensation committee can move forward with opening negotiations on a new contract for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The owners voted 31-1 in favor of starting negotiations for an extension for Goodell with Jones being the only dissenting vote, ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. reported.
Jones said that his issue with opening negotiations on an extension for Goodell wasn’t an attack on the commissioner’s ability to do the job. Rather, it was about the “structure” of the contract.
“Let me be real clear: I’m a real supporter of Goodell as our commissioner. I think he’s done outstanding. He’s been a commissioner with a structure, with a governance that’s really unique. It is not like a normal business structure, it’s like a family structure,” Jones said. “What you heard [from me] was an issue with the structure regarding how we were going to address the commissioner … I was basically expressing myself in that area, not my support or Roger. As a matter of fact, I actually stood up and made a nomination for his potential extension. Then when I heard the structure of how we were going to approach it, then I didn’t agree with that.”
Jones has been outspoken in the past about Goodell’s contract. In 2017, Jones threatened to sue the NFL and the compensation committee over Goodell’s contract extension negotiations.
A Patriots spokesman didn’t immediately provide a comment from the team when asked about the confrontation, ESPN added in its report.
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