Cowboys owner Jerry Jones deferred to Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter when asked if the league needs a leadership change as Schnatter suggested.
“The point is I wouldn’t address that as much as I am just how much of an expert [Schnatter] is in this area of gauging consumer and fan response,” said Jones, who has ownership interest in 120 Papa John’s stores. “He’s really uniquely qualified to do that because his entire -- I think he has over 5,000 stores and those stores basically send messages out to consumers and then they pick up the phone and either respond to that or not.
“He can literally, when the message comes out, he can really count the responses all over this country. So he’s quite an expert. Plus, he is one of the real American [success] stories of what hard work, being honest, treating people right [can do]. I know he’s frustrated.”
Schnatter blamed his company’s struggles on the NFL’s lingering national anthem controversy, and he blamed the NFL’s lingering anthem controversy on NFL leadership. Papa John’s is considering ending its sponsorship of the NFL.
