FRISCO, Texas _ Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who is already under fire for his feud with the NFL over a proposed extension for commissioner Roger Goodell, is now offering up a Mea culpa for an alleged inappropriate, four-year-old racial comment.
Jones made the comment in 2013 on a video at the Warwick Melrose Hotel in Dallas.
It was given to the gossip website theblast.com because of the current climate of race in NFL as the source of the video thought it was important to see.
A man asked Jones to give a congratulatory message to his new fiancee as he was walking out of the bar.
Jones obliged with a bit of off-color humor.
Jones looked in the camera and said, "Jennifer, congratulations on the wedding. Now, you know he's with a black girl tonight, don't you?"
Jones then began to laugh in the video.
Now the video has gone public.
Jones has apologized.
"That comment was inappropriate," Jones told the Star-Telegram. "It's not who I am, and I'm sorry."
Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Deion Sanders learned of the video and the intentions of the source and came strongly to Jones' defense. Sanders said he has known Jones for more than 20 years and he is not a racist.
"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," Sanders said. "He has gone beyond the call of duty of being an NFL owner for people of all ethnicities and backgrounds, and I know this to be a fact. 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."
