On Oct. 8, Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, told his team that anyone who sat or knelt down during the Pledge of Allegiance would be benched in the game. Jones is the first NFL owner to make a public approach against NFL players disrespecting the American flag. President Donald Trump praised Jones on Twitter for acting out, but many people are disagreeing with what Jones did.

“The players [who are forced to stand up] will think the pledge is less meaningful,” freshman Ross Tharp said.

Jones was influenced to make this decision after Vice President Mike Pence left the San Francisco 49er’s game early because the San Francisco 49ers players knelt and locked arms during the national anthem. Trump later told the public that Pence’s early departure was a premeditated action in what was called the war against football. Three days after Jones made this remark, he met with a few of the Cowboy’s players to discuss this rule with them. After the meeting, most of the Cowboys’ players rejected interviews and quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott skipped their interviews, which were scheduled for Oct. 12. In an interview with Clarence Hill Jr., a Dallas sports reporter, Dallas cornerback Orlando Scandrick abstained from commenting, but pointed out his pink cleats which support breast cancer awareness, a cause they are allowed to support.

While Jones feels he has the power to do this, the NFL does not require players to stand up for the anthem.

“The players could sue Jerry Jones for forcing them to stand up for the pledge,” Tharp sai.

Although players are not required to stand for the pledge as of now, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent all 32 NFL teams a letter regarding the pregame protests and how they are making a plan to end the pledge drama.

Rick Gosselin, a sports columnist for the Dallas Morning News came up with a theory of what Jerry Jones is trying to do.

“When they don’t stand for the pledge, blame me . . . Let’s get everyone’s minds back on football,” Gosselin said.

Gosselin’s theory states that Jones is trying to become the bad guy, in order to get the focus back onto the game rather than the pregame.

“People could see that he’s trying to make his players do what’s right,” Tharp said.

Gosselin believes that Jones is trying to receive all of the blame because he is a businessman, and right now football isn’t making him as much money with the pregame protests being on the front burner.

If Jones’ plan works, he will have successfully transferred the focus back onto the game and fans will no longer look for kneeling players. However, there is a chance that his plan will ultimately fail.