The NFL has fined Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones $250,000 for what he describes as an 'inadvertent' obscene gesture directed at fans during Sunday's game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
Video clips circulating on social media appeared to show Jones making a middle-finger gesture towards Jets supporters as the Cowboys secured a 37-22 victory. Jones, however, insists he was attempting to give a thumbs-up to Cowboys fans in the crowd.
'That was unfortunate,' Jones said on Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. 'There was a swarm of Cowboys fans out in front – not Jets fans, Cowboys fans. ... I just put up the wrong show on the hand. That was inadvertently done. I'm not kidding.'
The fine is relatively small for Jones, whose net worth is estimated at around $16bn (£12.6bn). Other NFL owners have faced similar penalties in recent years, including Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, who was fined $300,000 for tossing a drink at fans in January 2024, and then-Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams, fined $250,000 in 2009 for a similar obscene gesture.
Jones has had a busy off-season, drawing criticism from Cowboys fans after trading star pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. He was also a central figure in a Netflix documentary exploring how he built the Cowboys into the world's most valuable sports franchise.
