Pacman earns deal
Christopher Mann
Posted on: 27 May 2008 - 16:30
American Football
One of the worryingly frequent stories of player criminality in the NFL raised its head again a few weeks ago when the Dallas Cowboys decided to give a contract to serial felon Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones.
Now, let it be said that Jones is not your regular sporting criminal. He doesn’t do things like stealing toilet seats from B&Q (mentioning no names, Glen Johnson) or pinch cash from people’s coats in night clubs (hang your heads in shame Bradley Wright-Phillips and Nathan Dyer). No, ‘Pacman’ is a serious criminal. I mean really serious. Since joining the NFL via the draft in 2005 Jones has been arrested six times, the majority for incredibly dangerous crimes. In February 2007 Jones was implicated in a triple shooting in a Las Vegas strip club (told you it was serious) for which he was given 200 hours community service and a one year suspended jail sentence. Jones was also involved in a drugs scandal when a friend of his said, “You know, I was talking to him the other day about smoking, and he was like ‘man, if I didn't smoke I couldn't take all the stress that I'm dealing with right now’.” At first glance this is a pretty innocuous thing to say, but take into account the fact it was spoken on a phone line tapped by the police and things get a little more serious. On April 10th last year Jones was suspended for the entire NFL season over his alleged addiction to gambling. Admittedly this is already a fairly large list of felons, but wait readers, it’s not finished yet! In January 2008 Jones was charged with attacking a woman in an Atlanta, again in a strip club (can you spot the common theme?). The fact that he is being allowed to ply his trade in the NFL again has upset many fans who believe the wrong message is being sent out.
In Britain such behaviour would surely consign any athlete to the scrapheap of sporting history, their reputation in tatters. For an example just look at how Newcastle’s Joey Barton has thrown away his England chances with his shocking behaviour. Yet in the USA, getting your collar felt by the police often sees an incredible and bizarre rise in popularity, even if that popularity is a result of infamy. It would appear that all news is good news as far as the profile of an American Footballer goes. Despite this long list of serious offences, ‘Pacman’ has just signed a big contract for the Cowboys for this season and is looking to get his career back on track. Is this a policy of sporting redemption in action or an act of pure stupidity and immaturity by the Cowboys?
Whatever the public’s opinion of cases like the Jones one, legal cases infringing on the NFL have been a common feature of many seasons down the years. Last season, Atlanta Falcons star quarterback Michael Vick was suspended for being the leader of the ‘Bad Newz Kennels’ dog-fighting ring. He goes on trial this summer and potentially faces a ten-year jail sentence. To go along with this, Cincinnati Bengals’ wide reciever Chris Henry was arrested five times in three states between 2005 and 2008, Tank Johnson of the Chicago Bears was arrested and charged with misusing a weapon in 2007 and back in 2000 Carolina Panther’s running back Fred Lane was arrested on drugs and weapons charges.
Unfortunately, criminality amongst players in the NFL has become part of American Football’s global image. These players are not setting any sort of good example to those who look at them as role models and the actions of the players are damaging the very sport which keeps them employed. Let’s hope the relatively newly introduced NFL ‘Personal Conduct Policy’ can reduce the numbers of incidents like these and reform the image of American Football to the outside world.