NFL fines Jerry Jones $250,000 for obscene MetLife gesture he says was inadvertent

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

The incident came late in Dallas' 37-22 victory on Sunday. Jones said on his radio show Tuesday he intended to flash a “thumbs up” for celebrating Cowboys fans. Jones is likely to appeal and has until Friday to decide, the team said.

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

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

Jones' gesture came soon after Dak Prescott's fourth touchdown pass gave the Cowboys a 37-14 lead with 4:31 left in the game.

“(The gesture) was inadvertent on my part because that was right after we made our last touchdown, and we were all excited about it,” Jones said. “There wasn’t any antagonistic issue or anything like that. I just put up the wrong show on the hand. That was inadvertently done. I’m not kidding. If you want to call it accidental, you can call it accidental. But it got straightened around pretty quick. I had a chance to look at it. It got straightened out pretty quick, but the intention was ‘thumbs up,’ and basically pointing at our fans because everybody was jumping up and down excited.”

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

In 2009, the late Bud Adams was fined $250,000 after the Tennessee Titans owner made obscene gestures celebrating a victory over Buffalo.

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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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