Game Over for Pacman

First of all, sorry for the title, it was too easy.  The Cowboys have announced that Adam “Pacman” Jones will be released on February 9.  Pacman was practically ineffective in his first and only season with the Cowboys, after being suspended for a year for multiple run-ins with the law. Even after being given a second chance at an NFL career by the Cowboys, Pacman was unable to keep himself out of trouble.  The team hired full time babysitters to watch him and make sure there were no further incidents, but Pacman chafed under their watchful eyes and ended up having an altercation with one of them at a restaurant.  The altercation resulted in another suspension by the league, disrupting the Cowboys’ defensive game plans at a time when the team was already in turmoil due to injuries.

The biggest factor, though, is that he just wasn’t that good when on the field.  The Cowboys used him for punt and kick returns, but his average punt return was a miserable 4.5 yards with a long of 18 yards.  Fact is, he generally seemed to run more sideways than forward, trying to make quick cuts but not succeeding.  He frequently muffed punts and fumbled the ball, including in the last game of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles.  On defense, he was a little better at cornerback, recording 31 tackles and 7 passes defended during the season, but with the advanced development of rookies Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick at cornerback, Pacman was no longer needed in that position.

The Cowboys had a reputation for taking in “troubled” players and turning them around.  They had previously signed Tank Johnson, who had been released from the Bears after alcohol and gun-related infractions.  Tank has so far kept himself out of trouble in the season-and-a-half since joining Dallas.  They also picked up Terrell Owens after he was released by Philadelphia 3 years ago.  For the first two years, Owens pretty much kept out of trouble, mostly because he was getting the ball regularly.  That changed during the 2008 season, though, and so did T.O., according to some unnamed Cowboys player.  There are many Cowboys fans out there that hope T.O. is the next player released by the team this offseason.  To some, the Cowboys’ flameout at the end of the season can be directly attributed to the controversy T.O. caused.

UPDATE:  According to ESPN.com, the reason Pacman was released by the Cowboys is that they were made aware of yet another run-in with the law that occurred while Jones was serving his original one year suspension.  It seems that he arranged to have some people shot at outside a club in Atlanta.  This latest revelation could result in a lifetime ban from the NFL.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:  Pacman claims that the ESPN story of him instigating a shooting outside an Atlanta strip club in 2007 is bupkis and as a result he plans to sue ESPN “next week”.

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