Dallas Cowboys owner offends blind people with his 'blind ref' Halloween costume

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has offended the blind community after dressing up as a ‘blind ref’ for Halloween.

The 80-year-old has been the owner of the NFL side since 1989, so it’s safe to say he’s probably seen his fair share of bad calls.

In the past, he has been fined $25,000 by the league for criticising referee Ed Hochuli in 2008.

Obviously not learning his lesson, he decided to poke the bear again by dressing up as blind game official for Halloween this year.

He attended a party with his family complete with a striped referee shirt, cane, and reflective glasses.

Dallas Cowboys writer Clarence Hill Jr called it an ‘epic troll’ and hoped the NFL had ‘a sense of humour’ when it came to the costume.

Even Jones knew he was close to treading a line with the costume when he spoke to Sports Illustrated, with a tongue-in-cheek response to the outfit.

He said: “I'm being very careful here because I'm getting real close to a fine.

“It shows how much I love them to dress up as them … how much I respect their decision-making.

“I had the cane and everything. And I used it on some people, too."

However, it appears the NFL weren’t the ones to worry about when it came to offending certain people.

According to TMZ, the National Federation of the Blind took offence to the costume saying that it perpetuates ‘harmful’ stereotypes that blind people are incompetent.

Chris Danielson, the director of NFB released a statement, saying: “When anyone perpetuates that stereotype, it's harmful.”

Adding: “That general stereotype, in turn, limits our opportunities for employment and for participation in society.

“This is not just an issue of a perceived problem; statistics routinely verify that blind people have an unemployment rate of between 60 and 70%.

“This is not because we are unemployable, but because too many employers still internalise low expectations and stereotypes about us."

Danielsen also believed Jones should be more considering considering ‘he does have blind Cowboys fans’.

He said: “They show up at games and put on headsets or listen on the radio. It may be something for him to think about."

SPORTbible reached out to the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones for comment.

Featured Image Credit: @clarencehilljr/Twitter. UPI / Alamy.

Topics: NFL, American Football, US Sports

Jayden Collins

Jayden Collins is a Journalist at SPORTbible. He has worked across multiple media platforms in areas such as sport, music, pop culture, entertainment and politics. He is part of the editorial team for LADbible Australia.