The feud between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell isn’t subsiding. In fact, it appears to only be ramping up after an ESPN The Magazine story detailing Jones’s disdain for Goodell was posted online Friday.
“I’m gonna come after you with everything I have,” Jones reportedly told Goodell during an August conference call after being alerted of the league’s decision to suspend Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The 2016 rushing leader’s off-again-on-again six-game suspension stems from the NFL alleging Elliott used “physical force” in July 2016 during altercations with his ex-girlfriend resulting in her sustaining injuries. Prosecutors in Ohio, where the incidents were said to have occurred, decided not to pursue the case but that didn’t deter Goodell and the NFL from seeking to punish Elliott.
“The NFL’s findings are replete with factual inaccuracies and erroneous conclusions and it ‘cherry picks’ so-called evidence to support its conclusion while ignoring other critical evidence,” a joint statement from Elliott’s legal representatives, attorneys Frank Salzano and Scott Rosenblum, said following the initial suspension announcement in August.
Goodell is in the process of negotiating a contract extension—his current deal for his role as commissioner expires in 2019—but Jones has been trying to prevent it from happening with Elliot’s suspension seemingly being the main reason.
The league even recently sent a letter to Jones’s attorney accusing the 75-year-old of “conduct detrimental to the league’s best interests,” as it was reported earlier this week.
“Jerry’s message to Roger was ‘I run this league. You better get with it,'” a senior league executive told ESPN. “This is about power and control, not the contract. That’s all white noise.”
During the conference call in which Jones threatened to “come after” Goodell, Jones also made reference to the infamous Deflategate saga when Goodell was heavily criticized for his handling of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s suspension.
“If you think [Patriots owner] Bob Kraft came after you hard, Bob Kraft is a [expletive] compared to what I’m going to do,” Jones said.
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