You’ve probably heard by now of Jerry Richardson’s remarks on Charlie Rose last week, in which Richardson recalled his pre-draft meeting with Cam Newton. Basically, Richardson asked Newton is he had any tattoos or piercings. Newton said “no,” leading Richardson to utter the now somewhat infamous line, “We’d like to keep it that way.”
The story (or non-story, depending on how you see it) led to sports radio hosts strapping on their sociology professor blazers and discussing weighty issues like the role of race in sports for around a week, before being pretty much forgotten over a loaded weekend of actual sports.
Just as easily forgotten is the fact that Jerry Jones was a part of that interview, too. And had Jones met with Cam Newton prior to the draft, rather than his buddy Richardson, there would have been no such line of questioning and, in turn, no such story.
Because Jones--while mindful of protecting the franchise’s very lucrative and storied brand--doesn’t really care if his players have tattoos or piercings.
"Individuals have different thoughts about how they want to address their appearance,” Jones told Josh Lewin in a recent interview on 105.3 The Fan (via the Dallas Morning News). “I am interested in how that adapts to what we want to say to our fans, and what we want to say about the Dallas Cowboys. So that's very much there.
“I don't get into the body type, tattoos and things like that. I don't get into that. Or the hair. Because I remember Bear Bryant, when he was asked what he was going to do about all the long hair, he said 'well, if I have to grow it to win, I'll just grow it.'”
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