NFL: Pacman Jones About to Be Gobbled Up?
Posted March 14th, 2007 by George Thomas
Adam Pacman Jones had best look at the writing on the wall now that his current pro football home - the Tennessee Titans has signed Indianapolis Colts cornerback Nick Harper. It looks as if Jeff Fisher and the Titans are prepared to cut the corner with questionable character.
For the uninitiated, Jones has been involved in a number of legal…ummm….errrr…problems prior to being drafted in the first round and after, the most recent being a scuffle at a Las Vegas strip club that resulted in a triple shooting. In all there are 10 Pacman-related incidents on assorted police blotters. The irony of the shooting was it happened in Vegas during the NBA's All-Star festivities. You know, the NBA? The so-called "thug" league? The NBA goes to Vegas and an NFL player delivers the most notorious criminal activity.
I realize that Fisher probably had to wait to have a replacement for Jones' lined up before he cuts him from the team. After all, priorities, priorties. The Titans were close to the playoffs last year. But he should be gone, nonetheless.
And I'm going to go one better. If at all possible within the guidelines of the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NFL Players Association, Jones should be suspended as long as possible. No ifs ands buts or maybes.
For some inexplicable reason NFL players have remained immune to the sleaze that sticks to NBA players. I guess that's a benefit of playing in the country's most popular league. However, if the NFL doesn't want to drive away fans such as myself, they'd better make an example of this thug-like individual.
Why should the NFL care about the likes of me? Simple. I love football. I also have two sons who I'm trying to pass that love of the game on to. That is the league's future, maintaining its popularity and dominance. With the likes of Pacman in the news, I'm more apt to point my sons to our local high school team and the Ohio State Buckeyes. No, they're not angels either, but I don't have to read or watch news reports about them being involved in shootings at Vegas strip clubs.
To those who say he hasn't been convicted of anything, I say: smoke meet fire. The Titans signed Harper yesterday, here's hoping that Jones is shown the door by the end of business today.
March 15th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Please. You're actually telling your readers that if the NFL doesn't suspend Jones, they'll drive you away? That sounds all good and noble of you and everything, George, but if you're so fed up by criminals wearing helmets, then why haven't you *already* been driven away?
Truth is, you ain't goin' nowhere no matter what the Commish and his PR people do after they all sit down together and contemplate what's going to be in the best interests of the NFL's image.
With respect to your sons, again, George, come on. You can't honestly believe they won't become NFL fans if you try to "steer" them away to other kinds of football, do you? What's next, pretending they'll never find out about the birds and the bees?
March 16th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Alan you make a lot of assumptions about my ability to influence my children.
Criminals wearing helmets, huh, Alan? Painting with broadstrokes are we? Sweeping generalizations? Tsk Tsk. As for your assumptions about what I'll do, you're way off the mark. But hey, apparently, you know it all.
Truth of the matter Alan: I follow more college football than pros nowadays and I have for about five years. Why? Because pro football is an oxymoron in the city of Cleveland. Right now, I follow the NFL out of obligation more than anything else. So in essence, Alan, I've been driven away.
And given the level of influence I have over my children currently, yes, I will be able to teach them the difference between high school, college and pro football.
As for expecting them to never find out about the birds and the bees: gee, I've had the talk with the 12-year-old, but I thought it was a bit too soon for the 3-year-old.
March 16th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
George, your sons will be watching NFL football on Sundays regardless if the NFL starts accepting bids for a new franchise called the San Quentin Hacksaws.
And just like everybody else that said they wouldn't return to baseball, football, hockey, basketball and every other professional sport following strike after strike after strike, sports fans just can't help themselves. It's in our blood. You'd be back just as they came back, even if you weren't a sportswriter. Ya can't tell me you wouldn't still be sneaking peeks at the TV.
Besides, the NFL actually HELPS its image in many respects by having a criminal element attached to it. Football is legalized assault and battery, and having felonious James Deans and other fearless felons represents everything that is football. For many years the Raiders led the league in merchandising sales, and it wasn't because Pope John loved to wear black. Few people truly care if thugs rule professional football. It is what it is. It's not as if professional chess is going to rule the airwaves anytime soon.
If the Browns had 53 felons on the roster, but went on to win the Super Bowl, would Browns fans care what the players do when they're not killing the opponents on the field? High horses are for the media and rodeos.
March 19th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
No high horses here, Alan. Sorry, but I can barely stay on a bicycle. But I love the way you just paint everyone one the same broadstrokes.
You have little idea how to raise my kids, but I have a good handle on where the 12-year-old is with respect to likes and dislikes. Hmmm my guess is that gives me a wee bit of an advantage.
I love the way you advocate for Pacman Jones. He's a thug and my guess you'd be all over him if he were some hip hop artist. Then again, maybe not. Fact of the matter is no one is perfect, Alan. Least of all me. But there are certain boundaries that you do not cross and common sense should dictate that. My guess is Mr. Jones has none.