Cowboys owner Jerry Jones apologized Friday after a video surfaced of him making a racially off-color remark in 2013.
In the video, which appeared on the tabloid website The Blast earlier Friday, a man at a Dallas hotel approached Jones and asked if he had some words of congratulations for the man's new fiancée.
Looking at the camera, Jones said, “Jennifer, congratulations on the wedding. Now, you know he’s with a black girl tonight, don’t you?”
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Jones chuckled before walking away. The camera panned to an unidentified black man standing nearby who also laughed at the remark.
After the story appeared, the Cowboys released a statement by Jones. “That comment was inappropriate,” Jones said. “It’s not who I am, and I’m sorry."
Hall of fame cornerback Deon Sanders, who played five seasons in Dallas in the 1990s and was part of the Cowboys' last Super Bowl-winning team after the 1995 season, immediately came to Jones' defense.
"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 via an email to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"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.”