FRISCO - “Yes,” a tear-eyed Jerry Jones pledged on Friday night when asked about the COVID-19 pandemic and the fate of the 2020 NFL season, “we'll have football. Hopefully, the effort and work we're trying to do right here will pay off in a few weeks and months for having our fans to be able to see real football."
The Dallas Cowboys owner, who serves as an advisor on President Donald Trump’s “Re-Open America” spots committee, also spoke emotionally about America.
“There is no question we're going to get back as a country,” Jones said. “There is no question, and when we do, as we always do, we'll be better than we ever were."
Jones wasn't being defiant; rather, optimism and pride seem to be driving forces here - all the while not ignoring the real threat that COVID-19 continues to pose, to everything from America's medical health to its financial well-being.
Jones, speaking time the DFW media via conference call on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, believes the NFL conducting this event (albeit in “virtual” form) is part of the process of dealing with the coronavirus crisis.
"At a time when people are hurting, at a time when people are wondering, at a time where people don't have the answers - no one does - I think the NFL and sports stepped up and created a respite," Jones said. "We created a diversion. We created, if you will, some type of business-as-usual approach.”