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'I Had No Idea': Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Reflects On 1957 Little Rock Protest Photo

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who recently turned 80, takes a moment to express regret at not trying to do more to help Black students feel more accepted in Little Rock.

Richie Whitt

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is explaining his presence in a photo connecting him to one of the first instances of public school integration in his home state of Arkansas.

“I don’t know that I or anybody anticipated or had a background of knowing … what was involved,” said Jones, per The Washington Post, of his presence in the photo - taken on Sept. 9, 1957, at North Little Rock High when Jones was 14 years old.

The incident is an infamous one, featuring white students shouting slurs at Black students as they attempted to enter the school.

Jones, openly discussing the issue with the DFW media on Sunday after a Thanksgiving win over the Giants, added, “That was 65 years ago. I had no idea when I walked up what we were doing. It's just a reminder to me of how to improve and do things the right way.”

Jones said he went there as a “curious thing,” with no intention of harassing the Black students. He also said that at that time he didn’t realize how significant a moment it was ... and would grow to be.

The Washington Post did press him on his thoughts on the moment, and Jones reiterated his innocent intentions and noted that his concerns at the time included making certain he didn't get in trouble with his high school football coach.

Jones, who recently turned 80 and was in the spotlight today at his Cowboys played host to the Giants in a nationally televised Thanksgiving game, also took a moment to reflect on that time in his life and expressed regret at not trying to do more to help Black students feel more accepted in Little Rock.

“I’ll be very candid with you, I’ve often asked (myself), ‘Why didn’t you do more?” Jones said. “’Why didn’t you get up and have them come up on the bus and sit rather than standing back there? Why didn’t you do more?’”

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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