Once again, the CFL has opened its arms to a NFL castoff with a long list of indiscretions.
It's a long way from the Dallas Cowboys to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, so we'll excuse Adam (Pacman) Jones if he goes through a bit of culture shock.
The notorious cornerback/returner, whose bio includes this item that he allegedly ordered a shooting outside a strip club in Atlanta in 2007, is coming to Winnipeg to resurrect his football career. He is a former first-round National Football League first-round pick whose crimes and misdemeanours led to his banishment from the game south of the border.
Jones is not the first, nor will he be the last, NFL castoff to come to the Canadian Football League in hopes of rekindling what is left of a derailed career. You can go through the list: Dexter Manley, Lawrence Phillips, R.J. Soward, Robert Baker, to name a few of the more noteworthy badasses.
Inasmuch as the CFL has done its best to try and stay away from this type of thing - implementing a rule that prohibits its teams from signing players under suspension from another league - it is still a second-chance operation. With NFL Europe and the Arena League out of commission, the CFL is an alternative for players with nowhere else to go.
Jones was a onetime 2005 first-round draft choice of the Tennessee Titans, but his NFL career had a blemish on it before he even took to the field because of a fight he engaged in while in university at West Virginia. He became too much of a wild child in Tennessee because of his off-field behaviour and that led to a one-year suspension courtesy of commissioner Roger Goodell in 2007. The Titans dealt Jones to Dallas the following April and he signed a four-year contract that was loaded with clauses to protect the team financially in case Jones came undone. He started off well, but some six weeks into the season he became involved in an altercation with his bodyguard in a Dallas hotel. The NFL suspended him for four games as a result of the incident. It was also announced he was entering alcohol rehab. He suffered a potential career-ending neck injury in his return to the lineup, but worked his way back to play in the final game.
The Cowboys released him not long afterward.
So with no NFL team willing to take a chance on Jones, the Bombers have come to his emotional and financial rescue. Mind you, the money he will receive will be a pittance compared to the huge paycheques he received in the NFL.
We suspect the first thing that will shock Jones - aside from the salary slash - is the cold. Yes, Dallas does have a little chill in the air, but nothing like Winnipeg.
And he may find it a tad strange watching the Winnipeg cheerleaders, who don't flash nearly as much cleavage as the famed Cowboys cheerleaders.
Then again the Bombers do have two mascots dressed like birds, including one who flies an airplane that never takes flight at home games.
But he may fit perfectly in Winnipeg given all the news that has happened, on and off the field, this year, most of it concerning head coach Mike Kelly. He's been hand-slapped and fined by the CFL for various incidents in less than a year on the job. We suspect Kelly will have a tolerance for Jones.
We also think there's going to be some people in Winnipeg singing, "Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do when they come for you?"
