By honoring Kirk, Jones said he hoped to raise awareness of the history of political assassinations and send a message of unification across the country.
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For Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, the decision to honor Charlie Kirk was an easy one based on his own life experiences.
The NFL observed a moment of reflection before Thursday Night Football and left the decision on any other remembrances up to the remaining host teams in Week 2, according to CBS Sports. Ultimately, the Cowboys were one of seven teams to honor Kirk, while six teams did not. The Houston Texans held a pregame moment of silence in remembrance of “all victims of violence and natural disasters” before the team’s Monday Night Football game on Sept. 15.
During his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Sept. 16, Jones, who is also president and general manager of the Cowboys, offered an explanation to hosts Shan Shariff and RJ Choppy about the team’s decision to hold the moment of silence. He pointed to his upbringing as a youth in the 1960s, when a string of assassinations rattled the U.S. That included the killings of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 in Dallas, Malcolm X in 1965 and Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.
“We’ve got to realize that we’ve been here before, and we’ve just got to as a country, just be aware, let’s be attentive and make sure that we’re all together relative to violence. That’s not what we’re about. So I felt, and we all felt, that it was appropriate to make that note in front of a national audience.”