NFL fines Jerry Jones $250,000 for obscene gesture

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The NFL said Tuesday it fined Jerry Jones $250,000 for an obscene gesture toward fans at Metlife Stadium that the Dallas owner said was “inadvertent” and intended for Cowboys fans, not the New York Jets.

The incident happened late Dallas wins 37-22 on Sunday. Jones said on his radio show Tuesday that he planned to flash a “thumbs up” to celebrate Cowboys fans. Jones is considering an appeal, league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

Jones was caught on a video that went viral smiling widely as he pointed at fans before briefly flashing the gesture.

“It was unfortunate. It was kind of an exchange with our fans in front of us,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “There was a swarm of Cowboys fans out front – not Jets fans, Cowboys fans. The whole stadium was overflowing with Cowboys enthusiasm and certainly late in the game.”

Jones’ move came shortly after Dak Prescott’s fourth-down touchdown pass gave the Cowboys a 37-14 lead with 4:31 left in the game.

“(The gesture) was inadvertent on my part because it was right after we made our last touchdown, and we were all excited about it,” Jones said. “There was no antagonistic problem or anything like that. I just put the wrong show on hand. It was done inadvertently. I’m not kidding. If you want to call it accidental, you can call it accidental. But it got straightened out pretty quickly. I had a chance to watch it.

At the end of the 2023 season, the NFL fined Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper $300,000 for throwing a drink at Jacksonville fans.

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This story has been corrected to show that the fine for David Tepper came late in the 2023 season, not the 2024 season.

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