Sports

NFL May Change Policy That Players 'Should' Stand For Anthem

October 10, 2017 / 2:48 PM CDT / CBS Texas

NEW YORK (AP/105.3 The Fan) - NFL owners will meet next week to consider changes to a game manual that says players "should" stand during the national anthem, a guideline that the league has left to the discretion of players who kneeled in larger numbers after criticism from President Donald Trump.

Commissioner Roger Goodell told club executives Tuesday in a memo obtained by The Associated Press that the anthem issue is dividing the league from its fans. He said the NFL needs "to move past this controversy."

NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said the policy will be "front and center on the agenda" when owners meet in New York next Tuesday and Wednesday.

The movement started by former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick last season had mostly subsided when Trump told a rally in Alabama last month that owners should get rid of players who kneel during the anthem.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday that "the implication that we are not respecting the flag is not going to be accepted."

Jones, who has owned the team for nearly 28 years, says the issue is truly a 'workplace issue.' In fact, Jones says the edict to stand is in the Cowboys operating manual.

"Respecting the flag has been in place with the Cowboys organization since I got here, nearly 28 years ago," said Jones.