Adam "Pacman" Jones arrived home in Atlanta, Georgia Wednesday afternoon, but not without making an entrance. After exchanging a couple words with airport security, they exchanged fists, ending in the NFL free agent's favour. Jones was able to walk away with the knockout and no citations as police dubbed this "self-defense."
I'm no lawyer but I have beaten a few parking tickets, and I think I'll side with authority figures on this one. Jones was attacked first and even lost his Popeyes 2-piece combo during the scuffle. Although, he did give the security guard a 2-piece combo at the end while he was down, I think he can walk away from this one without a judge throwing the book at him.
The NFL All-Pro is certainly no stranger to scrapping. From women to men of all colours and ages, Pacman is not the one to exclude with his opponents, similar to the rest of the NFL. However, segregation with fisticuffs may be the more progressive line of thinking here.
Pacman's rap sheet is more illustrious than his NFL career. Here's a brief timeline from WV Metro News of his arrests since he was a college football standout.
October 2003: Jones received a one-year jail term as a student at WVU following a bar fight in which he allegedly beat a man with a pool cue. The sentence was suspended and Jones was placed on two years’ probation.
Yes, he still was taken in the first round of the NFL in 2005. Have to appreciate the NFL and it's rich history in on-field talent overshadowing off-field incidents.
July 2005: Jones was charged with felony vandalism after an altercation in which he punched Robert Gaddy, the owner of the 615 nightclub in Nashville, and broke Gaddy’s $400,000 necklace. Gaddy reportedly had asked Jones and three friends to leave after they were spotted smoking marijuana.
How else are you suppose to celebrate millions of dollars and your first NFL contract?
October 2005: Jones failed to check in with his probation officer in West Virginia and had his probationary sentence — stemming from the July arrest — lengthened by 90 days.
Well, he was probably still high off the marijuana he was taking in July.
March 2006: Jones was charged with marijuana possession in Fayetteville, Ga.
Caught picking up a summer sack at home in the off-season, Jones can't catch a break.
August 2006: Jones arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and public intoxication after an incident at a nightclub in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in which Jones claimed a woman tried to steal his wallet and the woman claimed he spit in her face. He received six months probation.
I can't comment on alleged loogies.
October 2006: At a Nashville nightclub, Jones allegedly spat in the face of a female student from Tennessee State University. He was cited for misdemeanor assault.
Back to back marijuana and loogie charges? Now he's starting to get reckless.
February 2007: The infamous $81,000 make-it-rain incident at a Las Vegas strip club prompted a shooting that left a security guard paralyzed and two more injured. Jones, who reportedly beat a stripper’s head against the stage during the fracas, received a season-long suspension from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Four years later, a jury ordered Jones to pay more than $11 million in damages to the injured men in Las Vegas.
Somehow, Jones avoided the slammer and a lifetime ban from the NFL for this one, all for the fee of 11 million dollars. That definitely put a dent in the All-Pro's frivolous lifestyle but he was able to make the most of his time off. Later that summer, he signed with TNA wrestling becoming a pro wrestler. During his TNA tenure that summer, he defeated wrestling titans Kurt Angle and Sting for the tag team championship with his partner and former NFLer Ron Killings. Jones went out in Pacman fashion and lost his belt when he threw money at the referee's face, severely blinding the official with stacks of cash, just in time for his NFL ban to be re-evaluated for the 07-08 season.
January 2008: Accused of punching a woman in the face … (wait for it) … at a strip club, this time in Atlanta.
Still infuriated that the ban wasn't lifted and he lost the World Tag Team Championship, Pacman reverted to his old ways.
October 2008: An intoxicated Jones gets into a fight with bodyguards the Cowboys assigned to him. He received a 4 game suspension from the NFL and was forced to enter rehab for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
Now, finally back in the NFL and with a fresh start to the team that he requested, he felt he doesn't need his own security team to stay out of trouble and that he himself is a security team.
After Dallas, he agreed to a one year contract in Winnipeg. However, before suiting up for a game, he mistakenly stated his excitement to play in the United Football League, immediately forgetting the name of the Canadian Football League (may or may not have been on the grass again). This led Winnipeg to end their pursuit of Pacman.
He managed to keep his name off of police scanners for awhile in Cincinnati, other than a few public intoxication charges and altercations with more women where he claimed "self defense." The Bengals may have turned a blind eye to his behaviour in the past, but in spring they denied the option for his contract in 2018 making him a free agent.
At 34 and still fighting everywhere he goes like the WWF Hardcore Champion, it's going to be tough to find employment. The CFL may have taken their chances with troubled NFL superstars before, but there is only one true home for people like Jones - and he's very familiar with it.
