Last week, the NFL enacted a new national anthem policy that stated players were not required to report to the field for the anthem, but if they were on the field and did not stand, their team would be punished. The new policy quickly came under fire from NFL players and other prominent sports figures like Steve Kerr.
Many have speculated United States President Donald Trump, who called for fans to boycott the league during the anthem protests in the fall, has impacted how team owners have managed the protests. That speculation seems to have been confirmed, per a new report from the Wall Street Journal.
As Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones testified in the Colin Kaepernick collusion case, Jones relayed a phone conversation he had with Trump.
"This is very winning, strong issue for me," Jones said Trump told him. "Tell everybody, you can't win this one. This one lifts me."
Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross testified that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had also spoken with Trump about the anthem. Ross made news in March when he said his whole team would stand for the anthem—a comment he immediately walked back.
Jones added that not all credit for the new policy should be attributed to Trump.
"Let's [not] give him that much credit," Jones testified. "But I recognize he's the president of the United States."
The apparent takeaway: Trump is not the entire reason the league enacted its new anthem policy, but he appears to have played a role in its enaction.
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