The NFL fined Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones $250,000 for making an obscene gesture — which he later called inadvertent — toward fans during the team’s road win Sunday against the New York Jets.
Multiple reports said Tuesday that Jones is appealing the fine.
Jones was shown in viral video on social media in his box at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., pointing toward fans and then giving the middle finger.
He explained on Tuesday on his radio show that the finger was an accidental response to Cowboys fans celebrating quarterback Dak Prescott’s fourth touchdown pass in the 37-22 victory in East Rutherford, N.J.
“That was unfortunate. That was kind of an exchange with our fans out in front of us,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “There was a swarm of Cowboys fans out in front — not Jets fans, Cowboys fans. The entire stadium was brimming with enthusiasm of Cowboys and certainly late in the game.
“(The gesture) was inadvertent on my part because that was right after we made our last touchdown, and we were all excited about it,” Jones said. “There wasn’t any antagonistic issue or anything like that. I just put up the wrong show on the hand. That was inadvertently done. I’m not kidding. If you want to call it accidental, you can call it accidental. But it got straightened around pretty quick. I had a chance to look at it. It got straightened out pretty quick, but the intention was ‘thumbs up,’ and basically pointing at our fans because everybody was jumping up and down excited.”
The Cowboys (2-2-1) on Sunday visit the Carolina Panthers (2-3), whose owner, David Tepper, was fined $300,000 for throwing a drink toward Jacksonville Jaguars fans during a 2023 game. The league also fined Bud Adams, then the owner of the Tennessee Titans, $250,000 in 2009 for waving middle fingers at Buffalo Bills fans.