NFL

Jerry Jones Apologizes for Joke With Racial Overtones

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones apologized Friday for making a joke with racial overtones that was captured on video four years ago.

The video surfaced Friday morning by The Blast.

At the Melrose Hotel in Oak Lawn, Jones encountered a fan who was about to get married. The man, who is white, asked Jones if he would videotape a message for his fiancée.

"Jennifer, congratulations on the wedding," Jones says in the video. "Now, you know he's with a black girl tonight, don't you?"

The camera then pans to show an African-American male, who's apparently laughing at Jones' comment.

"That comment was inappropriate," Jones said in a statement issued by the club Friday afternoon. "It's not who I am, and I'm sorry."

Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, who played five seasons with the Cowboys, defended Jones after the video was posted.

"I refuse to allow a moment to turn into a monument regarding a man I have known for 20 years, not just as an owner, but as a friend," Sanders said in an e-mail. "I 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.

"A joke that was intended to add humor at the request of a fan in a light-hearted moment was taken totally out of intent. I'm sorry we're in this state of mind as a country, but if you're looking for a racist, Jerry Jones is not that guy," Sanders said.

The video became made public hours after a report from ESPN's Outside the Lines said Jones threatened to come after commissioner Roger Goodell upon learning the league had suspended Ezekiel Elliott for six-games.

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