Dallas Sports Anchor Mike Doocy canceled his annual interview with Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, after the team informed him that the outspoken executive would not answer any questions relating to the national anthem protests, or policies.
Last week, Jones told reporters that his players would stand for the playing of the national anthem, “toe on the line.”
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, four days after saying he would require his team to stand for the anthem, the NFL ordered Jones to stop talking about the anthem issue.
While several stations with pre-scheduled interviews decided to go ahead with their interviews, Mike Doocy of Fox 4 in Dallas decided to cancel.
Here is his explanation:
Doocy said:
… tonight at the last second before we were getting ready to record our interview, we were told by Jerry and his public relations staff that the national anthem issue would be off limits. The fact we were told that at the last minute and that conditions were put on the interview in that way, I just didn’t feel comfortable going on with it.
I don’t want to make a bigger deal out of this than it is. I appreciate Jerry’s time throughout the years. He’s always been incredibly accessible, and in turn I’ve always tried to be fair. I’ve been fair to the point where I’ve been criticized for being too fair. I’ve been fair to the point where I’ve been criticized for not being tough enough on him at times. Certainly there were a lot of things to talk about with Jerry tonight. Not just the national anthem. We would’ve gotten into many issues having to do with his football team, clearly.
In some ways I’m violating my own policy here. I’ve always felt its better even if there are conditions put on an interview to talk to the newsmaker and get some information out of them that would be of value to our viewers and audience. If I’ve let you down in this regard, I do apologize. I just couldn’t accept the way it happened at this particular case tonight. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to talk to Jerry in the future.
While getting a notice of a restriction on an interview “at the last second,” is certainly unwelcome news. One wonders if Doocy’s entire interview was predicated on the anthem issue? After all, the Cowboys are in training camp. Couldn’t there be other things to talk about it? You know, like football?
“Jones did appear on other Dallas stations on Sunday and did not broach the anthem issue,” according to Awful Announcing.
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter @themightygwinn
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