Blue pull plug on Pacman

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2009 (5929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Adam (Pacman) Jones sideshow circus will not — repeat NOT — be coming to a CFL stadium big top near you.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers abruptly pulled the plug on their pursuit of Jones Wednesday night, indicating it was not in their "best interest" to give the talented-but-troubled former first-round NFL draft pick an opportunity to resuscitate his fledgling career in their colours.

"We had started down the path to investigate Adam more completely and, as we went down that path, things got accelerated by unfortunate information being dispersed," said head coach Mike Kelly. "At the end of the day I just feel it is better for us at this time in our preparations for the Labour Day Classic to sever those ties and concentrate on the men we have here that have worked so hard to represent the Winnipeg Football Club the way we want to.

"We feel very good about the culture and the atmosphere that we’ve created here and I have the utmost respect for our players. I just don’t feel like it would behoove us to continue this route."

A gifted cornerback/kick returner, Jones was released in February by the Dallas Cowboys. He was twice suspended by the NFL for off-field incidents and may now be forced to turn his attention to the upstart UFL, scheduled to begin play in October.

The decision ends a crazy couple of days for a Bomber football-operations staff that was consumed by the story after director of player personnel John Murphy indicated the team’s pursuit of Jones to an on-line reporter for Sports Illustrated late Monday. As the speculation grew — and drew headlines across North America — the Bombers were in contract discussions with his agent and frantically scrambling to do the legal legwork necessary to get Jones the proper documentation that would allow him into the country.

"Obviously the last 24 hours have been a bit of a whirlwind," said Kelly. "It went like wildfire and this is our attempt to build a ditch around that fire and not let it go any further.

"Here’s what’s unfortunate: people in our organization and outside our organization jumped the gun. When all this broke, our due diligence was not complete at that time. Information was released and presumptions made that were inappropriate at that time. We apologize that any misinformation was presented by a member of the Winnipeg Football Club… obviously we cannot control outside sources that report private conversations. We will continue to work hard to provide positive and truthful information to our public."

Ultimately, the team also partly backed away partly because of concerns of how he would fit into their locker-room — those worries undoubtedly exacerbated by some of Jones’ comments in an on-line discussion with fans on ustream.tv. In a strange 43-minute chat Jones begins by saying he was signing in the UFL before taking a phone call and correcting himself. He also boasted about how he would apparently dominate the CFL game.

"I’m the truth. I’m the best whoever done it," he said. "The last four weeks of the season I’m good for at least two touchdowns a game. So you can put me down for eight. You can put that in the bank."

Kelly would not confirm whether Jones would remain on the team’s negotiation list — meaning they hold his CFL rights — but the events of the last few days likely mean his name would be dropped. The same may go for former Detroit Lions’ first-round draft pick Charles Rogers, whose name was also on the Bomber neg list. Their interest in Rogers hit a bit of snag this week when both the CFL and NFL confirmed he remains indefinitely suspended down south.

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Rogers was hit with a one-year suspension in 2007 but had yet to apply for reinstatement and until that step is taken he would not be able to suit up for the Bombers. A gifted star at Michigan State, Rogers’ NFL career was cut short through a series on injuries and off-field transgressions — including being jailed in March for violating probation. He was previously scheduled to join the Montreal Alouettes for 2007 training camp, but never reported and they dropped him from their neg list.

"We have had rampant misinformation in the last 24 hours on both those individuals," said Kelly. "And, again, when I was talking the other day I said we wanted to get away from sensationalism. And sensationalism overtook this. I’m not interested in that."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca