The Curious Case Of Pacman Jones

Maybe Adam “Pacman” Jones doesn’t want to play in the NFL.

It might be just that simple.

Let’s be real. By now, it’s become apparent that he doesn’t get it and he probably never will.

Given away by the Titans, released by the Cowboys and currently needing a job, Jones still managed to find time for some needless fisticuffs during his appearance on Spike TV’s “Pros vs. Joes.”

And people say Michael Vick is a lost cause.

Of course, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones didn’t help matters by hinting at a possible return by the troubled and disgraced superstar before backpedaling a couple of days later through a media spokesman.

Unfortunately for young Adam, that was the last and most recent mention of his dwindling NFL prospects since Dallas released him in February of this year. The rest of the league isn’t exactly beating down his door right now.

It’s no longer a question of where Jones is going – as it was last season – it’s now a matter of who would even bother?

By now, it probably seems as if I support the complete alienation of this man. I assure you, I bare him no ill will. However, I must confess, his act is tired.

Dog tired.

The whole rebel without a clue, fight the power, they-just-don’t-understand-me shtick only plays for so long, and in his case it’s all just a shroud to cover his self-destructive tendencies.

How long can a person be content with being a walking, talking bad stereotype and how long do we have to be subject to it?

So what can he do to change?

Asking him to simply grow up doesn’t quite cover it.

What he really needs to do is change his whole outlook, personality and thought process. That, my friends, is a transformation which will take more than just a single off-season to come about.

Because of that, it seems the only football league in Jones’ immediate future is not the National one, but rather the All-American Football League.

Since money is apparently a huge distraction for him, perhaps a season playing in the AAFL (for less money) would give him a chance to both recapture his skill as well as his alleged love of the game of football.

If that doesn’t happen, Adam “Pacman” Jones faces an uncertain future and appears destined for a tragic “Where are they now?” documentary 10 years from now.

Hopefully, that’s not what it’ll finally take to get him to grow up.

Hopefully.