Pacman: One headline away

Not sure what to think about the Adam "Pacman" Jones situation that's been unfolding all afternoon. After hearing more about the incident, we need to hear more about the incident before jumping to a "suspend him indefinitely" conclusion. Maybe that will be the answer. Maybe it was really some "jiving around" between friends as Jerry Jones made it out to be.

Whatever the case, the fact that it is an issue is upsetting. Jerry Jones took a gamble on Adam Jones, just as he did with Terrell Owens and Terry "Tank" Johnson, and while the Owens and Johnson have both shown tremendous signs of maturation during their tenure as Cowboys, Adam Jones has now put himself within one more headline of completing his NFL Career.

I'm not trying to convict nor acquit the cornerback. I'm simply hoping that NFL Commish Roger Goodell doesn't make a snap-judgment one way or the other. He has launched an investigation into what really happened, but if Jerry Jones is correct in saying that the altercation was witnessed by only Adam Jones, his body guard, his uncle and his significant other, I'm not sure what Goodell expects to find.

Property was damaged at a Dallas hotel in the incident, but more damaging than even Adam "Pacman" Jones's already fragile reputation was the perception of Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips getting beaten up by the media. Phillips is a good coach. I think he's the right for this team right now. The Cowboys are capable of winning a Super Bowl under Phillips. But his performance during his press conference regarding the Adam Jones situation embarrassed me as a Cowboys fan.

Wade came into his press conference wanting to not talk about the situation, but rather than setting the tone of "I'm not taking questions about this," he tried to stiff arm the media by playing dumb. He made the point that Jerry Jones would be on later to talk about things, but then he kept trying to deflect questions. Mickey Spagnola told Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket's Hardline that Phillips really wants to coach football and wants to allow Jerry Jones to handle these types of situations. But by not setting that tone immediately, he allowed the media to run him over. Spagnola says Phillips is too nice in that he won't tell the media he's not talking about a topic, so in trying to not answer questions, he seemed weak.

For the Cowboys, they now can only hope 1. Commissioner Goodell doesn't find a reason within this to end Adam Jones's career, 2. they can refocus for Sunday's game and the rest of the season, and 3. Adam Jones's avoids any other potential problem situations. If he ends up in the middle of another situation, this current predicament has burned up any room for error he had. One more incident, one more headline, and his playing days are done.

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UPDATE:
The police report had the time of the incident wrong. That does put the rest of the report's credibility in doubt - just like Adam Jones's future in the NFL.

911 phone call

Police Report