Roy Exum: "Pacman" Means Trouble
by Roy Exum
http://www.chattanoogan.com
posted June 25, 2008
Roy Exum
To even the most casual pro football follower, Adam “Pacman” Jones is synonymous with trouble. He can get into trouble in more ways than a magician can do a card trick and just when we think he may have turned life’s corner, he’s back in the stew again.
You may think his latest roar came on Monday when controversial talk-show host Don Imus used bad judgment in a way he now claims sympathized with the turbulent off-field police record of Jones, who is now with the Dallas Cowboys, but in Nashville there is a different story unfolding.
Jones, who formerly played for the Titans, has defaulted on the terms and conditions of his home mortgage with U.S. Bank and, unless a spectacular end-zone grab occurs before this Friday, the 30-acre estate in nearby Franklin will be sold on the steps of the Williamson County courthouse.
Last weekend Jones was speaking to a group of kids when he said he no longer wishes to be called “Pacman” because of what he feels “has a lot of negativity behind it.” Instead he wants to be “Adam or Mr. Jones” because there is now what they jokingly call “the Pacman Posse” in Dallas - a group of individuals dedicated to keeping the spectacular athlete on the straight-and-narrow.
The Dallas effort, led by guys like Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin and the Rev. Rickie Rush, has put a 24/7 blanket over Jones since he wheeled and dealed his way from the Nashville Titans, where he played three years before being sidelined for his behavior last season.
So far the “great experiment” has worked. Jones has not only done well in the Cowboys’ mini-camps and practices, he’s worked hard to present himself admirably wherever he goes in Dallas and, last weekend, when he thrilled youngsters at a sports camp held by Brandon Bass of the Mavericks, he was a delight.
“There is just a lot of negativity behind the nickname…It’s just time for a change, man. I’m doing everything to make sure that I’m alright as a person mentally and emotionally,” he told reporters.
That is why he was as startled as anyone when the zany Imus, who was fired by MSNBC and CBS radio a year or so ago for blatant racial slurs, used poor judgment on Monday in what he later said was done when he tried “to make a sarcastic point.”
Evidently the WABC hosts were talking about whether blacks were being treated unfairly and, when sports announcer Warner Wolf brought up “Pacman,” Imus quickly asked, “What color is he?” When Wolf said Jones was an African-American, Imus retorted, “There you go. Now we know.”
On Tuesday, Jones told The Dallas Morning News in Tuesday editions, “I’m truly upset about the comments," he said. "Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I'm upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him."
But, by then, Imus had back-pedaled faster than an NFL quarterback, saying, “What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said Tuesday. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."
Imus called his critics “ridiculous” and asked aloud how anyone could think he was being a racist, “"How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?"
Just the same, Adam Jones, better identified as “Pacman” in the blaring headlines, was in virtually every newspaper in the country again and, after the latest blitz, he’d have to hire the world’s largest PR firm to rid himself the name people know best.
Conversely, at the proceedings scheduled this Friday at the Williamson County Courthouse, he will be referred to as only “Adam Jones.”
royexum@aol.com
http://www.chattanoogan.com
posted June 25, 2008
Roy Exum
To even the most casual pro football follower, Adam “Pacman” Jones is synonymous with trouble. He can get into trouble in more ways than a magician can do a card trick and just when we think he may have turned life’s corner, he’s back in the stew again.
You may think his latest roar came on Monday when controversial talk-show host Don Imus used bad judgment in a way he now claims sympathized with the turbulent off-field police record of Jones, who is now with the Dallas Cowboys, but in Nashville there is a different story unfolding.
Jones, who formerly played for the Titans, has defaulted on the terms and conditions of his home mortgage with U.S. Bank and, unless a spectacular end-zone grab occurs before this Friday, the 30-acre estate in nearby Franklin will be sold on the steps of the Williamson County courthouse.
Last weekend Jones was speaking to a group of kids when he said he no longer wishes to be called “Pacman” because of what he feels “has a lot of negativity behind it.” Instead he wants to be “Adam or Mr. Jones” because there is now what they jokingly call “the Pacman Posse” in Dallas - a group of individuals dedicated to keeping the spectacular athlete on the straight-and-narrow.
The Dallas effort, led by guys like Deion Sanders, Michael Irvin and the Rev. Rickie Rush, has put a 24/7 blanket over Jones since he wheeled and dealed his way from the Nashville Titans, where he played three years before being sidelined for his behavior last season.
So far the “great experiment” has worked. Jones has not only done well in the Cowboys’ mini-camps and practices, he’s worked hard to present himself admirably wherever he goes in Dallas and, last weekend, when he thrilled youngsters at a sports camp held by Brandon Bass of the Mavericks, he was a delight.
“There is just a lot of negativity behind the nickname…It’s just time for a change, man. I’m doing everything to make sure that I’m alright as a person mentally and emotionally,” he told reporters.
That is why he was as startled as anyone when the zany Imus, who was fired by MSNBC and CBS radio a year or so ago for blatant racial slurs, used poor judgment on Monday in what he later said was done when he tried “to make a sarcastic point.”
Evidently the WABC hosts were talking about whether blacks were being treated unfairly and, when sports announcer Warner Wolf brought up “Pacman,” Imus quickly asked, “What color is he?” When Wolf said Jones was an African-American, Imus retorted, “There you go. Now we know.”
On Tuesday, Jones told The Dallas Morning News in Tuesday editions, “I’m truly upset about the comments," he said. "Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I'm upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him."
But, by then, Imus had back-pedaled faster than an NFL quarterback, saying, “What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said Tuesday. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."
Imus called his critics “ridiculous” and asked aloud how anyone could think he was being a racist, “"How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?"
Just the same, Adam Jones, better identified as “Pacman” in the blaring headlines, was in virtually every newspaper in the country again and, after the latest blitz, he’d have to hire the world’s largest PR firm to rid himself the name people know best.
Conversely, at the proceedings scheduled this Friday at the Williamson County Courthouse, he will be referred to as only “Adam Jones.”
royexum@aol.com
posted by The Gryphon at 9:39 AM
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