The Cowboys’ new defensive tackle is walking the walk on Juneteenth and asking new boss Jerry Jones to finally talk the talk.
Gerald McCoy is already showing himself to be a leader for the 2020 Dallas Cowboys, even though he has yet to set foot in the building. The six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, signed by the club in late March, is lending his voice to growing calls to make Juneteenth a national holiday. He called on his new Cowboys teammates to join him in a 2.5-mile walk on Friday, a show of solidarity with Opal Lee, the 92-year-old retired teacher who walked from her Fort Worth home all the way to the nation’s capital (two and a half miles at a time, in 2016 and again in 2019) in an attempt to get the date recognized officially.
But McCoy also had some words for his new boss, Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones, who has yet to weigh in publicly with a stance on the events that have gripped the country since the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Appearing on ESPN’s First Take on Friday to mark the occasion of Juneteenth, McCoy was asked about the deafening silence that has come from the owner of America’s Team.
“When you have a franchise as recognizable as the Cowboys, “McCoy said, “people listen when they speak up. And the owner, Jerry Jones- who is one of the most recognizable figures in sports history- when he speaks, everybody listens. Well, I think at this point in time, I feel it would be great to hear him say something positive, or say anything. I love what he’s been to the sport. He’s been excellent to the sport of football. He’s a Hall of Famer. But at this point, it’s bigger than football. We need him to speak up about life. This is about human beings and equal rights. And that’s not what’s happening. And it would be great to hear him say something. Anything.”
Jones has taken considerable heat for his uncharacteristic radio silence. Former Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant tweeted that he’d like to have seen Jones attend one of the many protests that followed Floyd’s death. 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman called out Jones as well, in comments to a San Francisco newspaper.
This week, First Take cohost Stephen A. Smith offered a scathing rant directed at Jones. The team made a mention of Juneteenth via their social media accounts and spotlighted former defensive end Greg Ellis’s theatrical production, “Juneteenth: The Stage Play.” But for Smith, a rabid Cowboys hater, it’s not the same as a formal statement from the man at the top.
“Even more disappointing” than Jones’s silence, Smith said, “is that I haven’t heard one single Dallas Cowboy call for Jerry Jones to speak on this issue. Where the hell are they?”
McCoy’s pointed comments 24 hours later may have come too late and too softly for Smith’s liking. But they were not, in fact, the only ones to have come from a Cowboys notable.
On June 3, quarterback Dak Prescott posted an eloquent series of messages via Instagram detailing his perspective and pledging $1 million in support of police training, education, and advocacy.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott was one of the players featured in the video directed at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell two weeks ago, prompting the commissioner to release a video response of his own condemning racism and admitting the league was wrong to not listen to players’ previous criticisms regarding the issue of race.
Several Cowboys, including Prescott, wide receiver Amari Cooper, Ring of Honor legend Emmitt Smith, former Cowboys defensive star DeMarcus Ware, and three-time Super Bowl offensive lineman Nate Newton were among the hundreds of sports notables who signed a letter supporting the end of qualified immunity for violent police officers.
Speaking with Rich Eisen, Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin shared personal stories of his own experiences with systemic racism and described it as a problem that “we have to root out.”
The Cowboys organization released a video, the first in a promised series, that, according the team website, “reflects the organization’s statement regarding the recent tragedies in our country while also disclosing interactions between the team, its players, and community leaders.”
And most recently, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence pledged to join McCoy for local Opal’s Walk events on Friday and Saturday. The two and a half miles of the walk represent the two and a half years that Black Texans waited between the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery, and the day that message finally arrived in Galveston.
McCoy, who still has not met most of his new teammates or coaches face to face, clearly grasps the club’s unique place in the landscape of professional sports. His conversation with the First Take crew echoes remarks he made to ESPN that show his apparent willingness to use his newly-elevated profile to address the current climate alongside the Cowboys veterans who have already done so.
“You have the players, who have their own brand, but we’re all under the umbrella of the Dallas Cowboys,” McCoy said, per Todd Archer. “The Dallas Cowboys are the most recognized franchise in the world. They can get behind it, whether it’s the players or just being in the movement, period, and showing their support. It would be great to hear a statement from the Cowboys, great to hear a statement from Jerry Jones in support of everything that’s going on. Will that get me in trouble saying that? I don’t know, but the truth is it needs to be said. The problem is people are afraid to have the conversations.”
Gerald McCoy is talking the talk on racial inequality in America. And on Juneteenth, he’s also walking the walk.
[vertical-gallery id=649076]
[vertical-gallery id=646270]
[lawrence-newsletter]
