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Eric Trump decries NFL as Dallas Cowboys get 'green light' to protest during anthem: 'Football is officially dead'

Speaking to reporters in Dallas, Defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford revealed that members of the team were allowed to take a knee or engage in any form of protest as they deemed fit

Eric Trump, son of U.S. President Donald J. Trump, declared that "Football is officially dead" after reports emerged that Dallas Cowboys players had been given the "green light" to kneel in protest during the national anthem.

Speaking to reporters in Dallas on Friday, Defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford revealed that members of the team were allowed to take a knee or engage in any form of protest as they deemed fit before the National Football League games in the fall. Crawford said he intended to "make a boom" to bring attention to issues of racial injustice and police brutality. “We definitely [have] the green light on all that but also just trying to find something that's going to make a boom," Crawford said. "It's not just going to be something that people look at it one time and kind of swipe by it, they're like, 'Oh, that's great. The Cowboys did that,' and swipe by it."

Meanwhile, Quarterback Dak Prescott agreed that the decision to protest should be left up to the individual. "We’ve had private conversations, and it’s about expressing yourself," Prescott said. "I wouldn’t say it’s going to be about expressing one idea. That’s where we are in this country right now."

Last week, team owner Jerry Jones emphasized that NFL players needed "help from a majority of America" to safeguard their right to protest. 

It's worth noting that no Dallas Cowboys player has knelt during the anthem since Colin Kaepernick began his sensational kneeling protests four years ago. "Football is officially dead — so much for 'America’s sport.' Goodbye NFL... I’m gone," Eric Trump wrote on Twitter.

Jones shifted his tone regarding players protesting during an appearance on Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan on Friday. He urged fans to respect the players' opinions, which may be "diverse."

“That’s the great thing about America: Everybody has a difference,” Jones said. “If our players are there, they are sensitive to and respect what America is as it relates to the flag. I’ll assure you that. I’d hope that our fans — and I think they will — understand that our players have issues that they need help on. They need help from the majority of America."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who grabbed headlines after his bombshell apology to NFL protesters earlier this year, recently expressed disappointment in how peaceful protests by the league's players were being portrayed.

"What our players are doing is being mischaracterized. These are not people who are unpatriotic. They're not disloyal. They're not against our military," Goodell told former NFL player Emmanuel Acho on his social media video series 'Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.'

"What they were trying to do is exercise their right to bring attention to something that needs to get fixed. That misrepresentation of who they were and what they were doing was the thing that really gnawed at me," he added.

In June, Trump slammed Goodell after he formally apologized for the league not adequately addressing black players' concerns about racism.

“Could it be even remotely possible that in Roger Goodell’s rather interesting statement of peace and reconciliation, he was intimating that it would now be O.K. for the players to KNEEL, or not to stand, for the National Anthem, thereby disrespecting our Country & our Flag?” the president tweeted, deeming Goodell's comments as rather a blessing for players to kneel during the upcoming season.