Pac-Man Jones back in the news - who cares?

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/sports/stories/2009/01/08/cowboys_pacman.html

FORT WORTH, Texas — Try as he might to keep Adam “Pacman” Jones on the roster, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Wednesday cut the talented cornerback who might wind up as a case study for wasted potential.

Earlier in the day, ESPN informed the Cowboys and the NFL that it plans to air a piece for its “Outside the Lines” program that includes never-before-seen footage of Pacman Jones’ apparent involvement in a June 2007 nightclub shooting when he was still with the Tennessee Titans. The incident occurred in a suburban Atlanta strip club.

At the time of the incident, Pacman Jones was already under a one-year suspension by the NFL for being involved in a Las Vegas shooting earlier that year.

“It was unexpected. It was a surprise,” said Pacman Jones’ agent, Worrick Robinson. The transaction will become official Feb. 9, when NFL teams can make waiver requests.

“Adam knows that it’s a business, and that the Cowboys are making business decisions and that this sort of news is part of it… . And he’s hoping that perhaps there might be another opportunity there for him in the future, whether it is the next year or the next two years.”

A source confirmed that when the Cowboys learned of the report by ESPN, the team made the decision to cut Jones, who is now under league investigation and whose NFL career could be finished as a result. The ESPN program reportedly includes security-camera footage and allegations that Pacman Jones ordered a gang member to carry out a shooting.

The Atlanta incident was news to the NFL, which in October made it clear to Pacman Jones that one more piece of negative news would result in a lifetime ban from the league.

Robinson said his client intends to continue to live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well as work out here in hopes that a team will give him a chance.

Robinson did not address the ESPN report. When asked if the Cowboys’ decision had anything to do with Pacman Jones’ off-the-field troubles, Robinson said no.

The decision to cut Pacman Jones ends his stay with the Cowboys the way many in the NFL predicted, and those inside the Cowboys’ front offices feared.

The Cowboys acquired Jones last April from the Titans for a fourth-round draft pick. In the months and weeks leading up to the trade, Jerry Jones floated the idea of acquiring Pacman Jones to players and members of his staff. A few players shrugged their shoulders and went along with the idea, but most in the organization were skeptical.

After a public relations campaign that included an announcement to drop “Pacman” as his name, visible stops at inner-city youth clubs, providing free furniture to a Fort Worth family in need and saying all the right things, Jones was reinstated by the league Aug. 28.

But Pacman soon returned.

Jerry Jones hired a security staff of four to basically escort Pacman around, to protect Pacman from Pacman.

But other than with defensive lineman Tank Johnson, Pacman Jones never seemed to fit in the locker room. He had a tendency to be either late or doze in team meetings. When he was on the field, the results were sporadic at best. While talented and showing skills in man coverage, he never intercepted a pass, and averaged just 4.5 yards on 21 punt returns. The team credited Jones with 33 tackles, and he led the team with 13 pass deflections.

His on-the-field production was further limited when he was involved in a fight with his girlfriend as well as a member of his own security team at a Dallas hotel on Oct. 7. Jones was then suspended by the NFL and missed six games. He missed another game after he was reinstated when he sustained a neck injury.

The experiment roughly cost the Cowboys $1.35 million. Because the NFL suspended Jones, Dallas will receive the Titans’ fifth-round pick, and gain $1 million in salary-cap space in 2009.