Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been fined $250,000 by the National Football League after directing an "obscene gesture" to fans during last weekend's defeat of the New York Jets, US media reports said on Tuesday.

Billionaire Jones, 82, was caught in a viral video flipping off fans with a one-fingered salute during the Cowboys' 37-22 win over the Jets at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday.

Jones said in an interview with the 105.3 The Fan radio station in Dallas on Tuesday the gesture had been "inadvertent" and he had in fact been trying to give a thumbs up to fans celebrating a Cowboys touchdown.

"It was inadvertent on my part because that was right after we made our last touchdown, and we were all excited about it," Jones said.

"There wasn't any antagonistic issue or anythi

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