Jerry Jones made a racially charged comment to a fan back in 2013, which is featured in a video obtained by The Blast.
The clip, which reportedly was shot at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas, captures the Cowboys owner offering a message to a bride-to-be named Jennifer.
“Jennifer, congratulations on the wedding,” Jones said. “Now you know he’s with a black girl tonight, don’t you?”
Jones, 75, walks away chuckling after the fan behind the device points the camera at an African-American male. Insiders told the online publication the fan in question is Caucasian.
Jones issued an apology Friday, hours after the video went public.
“That comment was inappropriate,” he said in a statement released by the Cowboys. “It’s not who I am, and I’m sorry.”
Former Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders quickly leaped to the polarizing billionaire’s defense, telling The Blast he “won’t cast judgment on one moment when a joke went south to capture who this man represents in a lifetime commitment of love and compassion to all ethnicities.
“Jerry does more for his players than anyone in the league, I don’t think there’s a player, whether African-American or Caucasian, that would agree [the video] is a representation of Jerry,” he continued.
Jones has been at the center of the NFL’s anthem protests, threatening to bench his players if they refused to stand for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
“If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play,” Jones told reporters following the Cowboys’ 35-31 loss to Green Bay in October.
“Understand? We will not,” he said. “If we are disrespecting the flag, then we will not play. Period … We’re going to respect the flag and I’m going to create the perception of it. And we have.”
Jones also is currently at war with his fellow owners over commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract extension. It’s a situation that has escalated to the point that some of his fellow owners are threatening an option where Jones would be forced to give up his ownership position.