| QUOTE |
| PWInsider.com has confirmed that TNA has signed suspended Tennessee Titan cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones to a deal that will see the NFL star perform as a professional wrestler. The deal was signed late last week. Jones is currently suspended for the entire 2007 NFL season without pay for off-the-field personal conduct problems, including a Las Vegas strip club shooting incident that left former independent pro wrestling Tommy Urbanski paralyzed. Jones' NFL suspension could be lifted 10 games into the season pending a hearing but was recently informed he wouldn't be allowed to attend the Tennessee Titans' training camp. According to one source, the Titans organization has no issue with Jones getting involved with TNA. Before anyone asks, I was told this wasn't a Vince Russo idea. We'll have more on this tomorrow on the site. |
| QUOTE (Big F'N Swigg @ Jul 30 2007, 10:01 AM) |
| Part of me hopes his entourage comes in dressed in different color sheets. |
| QUOTE (Big F'N Swigg @ Jul 30 2007, 11:01 AM) |
| Part of me hopes his entourage comes in dressed in different color sheets. |
| QUOTE (Yahoo!) |
| NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Adam "Pacman" Jones won't have to worry as much about getting called for interference in his new adventure in pro wrestling. The referee might not even be looking in his direction. In an effort to stay busy during his season-long suspension for off-field legal scrapes, the Tennessee Titans' cornerback will be joining Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, with his first appearance scheduled Thursday night. TNA co-founder Jeff Jarrett announced the move Monday at a news conference that Jones did not attend as promised. "I am a big fan of wrestling, so I wanted to give it a try," Jones said in a statement. "I respect wrestling and I'm not coming in like it's just a show. I want to prove that I am the greatest team-sport athlete." It's not yet known whether Jones, who has become a divisive figure for the team and its fans, will become a good guy or a "heel" -- wrestling parlance for the bad guy. Jarrett said he planned to let the audience decide. "I'm a third generation in this business. The wrestling business is built literally on conflict and controversy and larger-than-life personalities. I know that the media certainly knows Pacman from one side of his personality," Jarrett said. "I really think he's a very charismatic guy. When you get to know him from our approach -- very marketable -- and you'll see when you tune into the pay-per-view on Sunday the response he will get. He's a star. He's a star." Jarrett said he and other TNA wrestlers have been working with Jones, and he was impressed with the athletic ability of the first defensive player taken in the 2005 draft. Jones has a ring set up for training at his farm south of Nashville. "I've never been in the ring with someone with more natural athletic ability," Jarrett said. What's not immediately clear is how the new gig will coincide with NFL contracts that prohibit non-football activities that could cause injury. Jones remains under contract with the Titans, although they are working on switching their top draft pick, Michael Griffin, to make the change from safety to cornerback. Jones' agent, Michael Huyghue, said last week that he talked to the Titans about a pending deal with TNA, but said the player would not actually be wrestling. Titans coach Jeff Fisher was asked twice about Jones' plans to get in the ring after the TNA announcement Monday. He did not answer the first question and was succinct the second time. Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones appears in General Sessions Court in Murfreesboro, Tenn. in this July 5, 2007 file photo. Jones, suspended for the entire 2007 season for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, will make an appearance on a pro wrestling show Thursday after signing a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. AP - Aug 6, 3:24 pm EDT More Photos "I do not have a comment," Fisher said. Titans quarterback Vince Young said he hasn't talked to Jones about wrestling and is too busy in training camp to watch. "That's his decision. That's his choice. The Tennessee Titans, we're out here working," Young said. Jones was suspended in April for the 2007 season by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for repeated conduct violations. The player dropped his appeal of that punishment in June. His first television appearance will be Thursday night during TNA's iMPACT! show, but the show already has been taped, including Jones' appearance. "He's looking forward to coming in and wrestling," Jarrett said. "He wants to concentrate on the tag-team aspect of wrestling." Jarrett said TNA has featured appearances from Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, 2005 World Series MVP David Eckstein, Chicago White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski and New York Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon. But none appeared while suspended from their day jobs. Goodell was asked about Jones' wrestling when he visited the Titans' camp Saturday. Goodell said it was up to Jones to decide what's in his best interest as he tries to earn his way back onto the field. "I've often said that it's not about what you say, it's about what you do," Goodell said. "It's your actions. And I think the actions will have to determine that." Jones has been arrested six times since being drafted by the Titans in April 2005, including June 22 when he turned himself in on two felony counts of coercion in a Las Vegas strip club fight earlier this year that left a man paralyzed. His bid to join the Titans in training camp was denied by the NFL on July 26. Jones' case will be reviewed after the Titans' 10th game, which is Nov. 19. He wouldn't be the first Titans player to make a TNA appearance. Titans defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch worked the corner for retired tight end Frank Wycheck at a TNA tag team match in June in Nashville. Vanden Bosch said after Monday's morning practice that he consulted with Titans officials about what he could and could not do in that appearance. He called wrestling a "soap opera" for grown men and said Jones must weigh whether it's worth doing if team officials don't want him taking part. "He has to keep continuing to take the little steps to get in good favor with his teammates and this organization," Vanden Bosch said. "I don't know what kind of step this is. It can be a good step. He also has to take steps to rehabilitate his image with the public." |