Add nose tackle Dontari Poe to the list of free-agent defensive line additions to call out Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for his silence on racism in the six weeks since the death of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Veteran defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who signed a three-year deal with the Cowboys March 17, wondered aloud on ESPN about Jones' silence last month.
And now Poe, who signed a two-year deal with the Cowboys on March 25, shared his thoughts on a muzzled Jones with Bleacher Report.
"His silence definitely means a lot because in any other situation (he) will have something to say about most things," Poe said. "I was once a proponent of doing stuff behind closed doors, and doing what I need to do not out in the forefront. ... So hopefully he is doing that, but who knows what he is doing. ... Personally, I would hope that he comes out and says, 'OK, I am willing to help, I am willing to fight, and I am willing to be with y'all.'"
Poe's sentiments echoed those of McCoy.
"At this point it's bigger than football," McCoy said in a discussion on police brutality and Floyd on ESPN's First Take on June 18. "We need him to speak up about life. This is about human beings and equal rights. And that's not what's happening. And it would be great to hear him say something. Anything."
"It don't look good," McCoy continued. "It doesn't look good. You can't be silent at a time like this. I'm new to the Cowboys organization. I'm blessed to be a part of this organization. When things are not going well for the team, you can hear him screaming.
"Well, this is life. This is bigger than just football, it's bigger than money, it's bigger than winning a Super Bowl. Something needs to be said. Because of his level of who he is and how many people listen to him, that's why I'm saying it. Everybody doesn't have to speak up. I'm not saying everybody has to say anything. If you want to be silent, that's fine. But the level of who he is? Yeah. I think something needs to be said."
Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, however, disagrees with Poe and McCoy on the need for Jones to speak out on racism and support the cause.
"This whole situation has nothing to do with Jerry or anybody in Jerry's position," Lawrence told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram last month. "This is about us coming together and focusing on how we can make a change and how we can come together and be united. I don't see how one man in Jerry's position or any of those types of positions can make a change.
"The only thing they can do is give us money to make a change. What kind of help do we need from Jerry? We need to stand on our own two feet, be the (men) we are supposed to be and build foundations and build centers to help our youth."
Poe served on the Carolina Panthers' player impact committee the last two years and plans to be active within the Cowboys' social justice initiatives.
Because he is rehabbing a torn quad injury from last season, Poe has had the unique opportunity to be at the Cowboys' facility despite the COVID-19 shutdown.
He said new head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive line coach Jim Tomsula expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement to fight systemic racism and Zoom meetings with the players during the virtual offseason program.
But there was nothing from Jones and it was noticeable.
"Haven't talked to Jerry at all," Poe said. "I hope he comes out and shows his support. ... You are an owner of an NFL team _ you get what I'm saying? The majority of this team are these people that are being oppressed. So even if you are not going to be in the forefront, we need to know we have your support in that type of way."
The demand for Jones to speak up and denounce racism is largely rooted in his opposition to the peaceful protests against police brutality during the national anthem from 2016-2018 and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's recent admission that the NFL mishandled them.
Goodell pledged his support to Black Lives Matter and admitted the league was wrong in how it stamped out the protests during the national anthem that were meant to bring attention and awareness to the cause.
Has Jones also changed his mind? Does he now understand the protests had nothing to with disrespecting the flag? Or does the threat to cut any Cowboys player who doesn't stand with a "toe on the line" still stand?
It's a position that is sure to be challenged in 2020 as players across the league plan to renew the protests following Floyd's death and Poe is "definitely leaning toward" joining them this season.
"To be honest, if I did kneel, how could somebody say they don't understand it for what it is?" Poe asked rhetorically. "If you don't understand it, then you just don't want to know it."
He knelt in 2017 when he was with the Atlanta Falcons.
No Cowboys player has ever taken a knee.
Not yet.
