Dontari Poe is ready to take a stand — by not standing.
The Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle, who signed with the team this offseason, told Bleacher Report that he’s “definitely leaning toward” kneeling during the National Anthem in 2020 as a way to fight police brutality and social injustice.
“If you don’t understand it, then you just don’t want to know it,” he said.
Jerry Jones was the most vocal owner who stated that none of his players would be allowed to kneel during the National Anthem, even threatening to not play them if they did so.
Jones has yet to comment on the death of George Floyd, a Minneapolis man who was killed in police custody in May and has caused a wave of nationwide protests calling for police reform.
Poe has noticed this as well.
“Haven’t talked to Jerry at all,” Poe told Bleacher Report. “I hope he comes out and shows his support. … You are an owner of an NFL team — you get what I’m saying? The majority of this team are these people that are being oppressed. So even if you are not going to be in the forefront, we need to know we have your support in that type of way.”
“His silence definitely means a lot because in any other situation [he] will have something to say about most things,” Poe told Bleacher Report. “I was once a proponent of doing stuff behind closed doors, and doing what I need to do not out in the forefront. … So hopefully he is doing that, but who knows what he is doing. … Personally, I would hope that he comes out and says, ‘OK, I am willing to help, I am willing to fight, and I am willing to be with y’all.’”
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Poe knelt during the Anthem in 2017 as a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
He signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the Cowboys in March.
