After further review… and maybe a fair bit of reflection over the optics of the situation… Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has decided he will not appeal the fine levied against him for an obscene gesture made at MetLife Stadium during last weekend’s win over the Jets.
Jones was spotted flipping a middle finger at fans in a spirited interaction late in the Week 5 game, which Dallas won by a 37-22 score. Despite the 82-year-old’s somewhat dubious explanation that he meant to flash a thumbs-up and “inadvertently” used the wrong finger, the NFL announced that Jones would be fined $250,000.
As recently as midweek, reports from inside The Star in Frisco indicated that the club was preparing the paperwork to file an appeal; the deadline for doing so was Friday.
Per Todd Archer of ESPN, however, a source close to Jones claimed that the owner feels fans across the league know how he feels about them and will accept the fine, knowing the money will be donated to charitable organizations.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has decided not to appeal his $250,000 fine for his middle finger gesture last Sunday at MetLife Stadium. The league fine money goes to charity, which Jones is happy to support. He’s also confident that fans know how much he appreciates all fans, not…
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) October 10, 2025
The charity aspect likely played a role in Jones’s decision to back down. It’s a bad look for one of the richest men in the game and the owner of the most valuable franchise in all of sports to put up a public fight over giving what amounts to pocket change to people in legitimate need.
Or maybe Jones just realized no one who saw the video of the exchange actually believed his half-hearted wrong-finger excuse.
“I just put up the wrong show on the hand. That was inadvertently done. I’m not kidding,” Jones said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “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.”
That explanation, though delivered with a serious tone, had hosts and RJ audibly snickering.
Having to pony up a $250,000 punishment is no joke for most of us, but Jones will apparently be taking this minor financial L and moving on.
But he’ll probably be keeping his fingers to himself as he interacts with Cowboys and Panthers fans alike on the road this weekend in Charlotte.
Follow Cowboys Wire on Facebook to join in on the conversation with fellow fans!
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will not appeal $250,000 middle finger fine
