http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs....605090366/1027
Pacman: 'Everyone wants me to snap'
Jones defends himself, says why he left town
By JIM WYATT
Staff Writer
Through the eyes of Pacman Jones, everyone is staring at him.
Whether it's the police, media or even those in the Titans organization, the controversial cornerback feels like his every move is being watched and scrutinized. And for that reason, Jones packed up and left the city a few weeks ago, deciding to work out on his own in Phoenix. On Monday night, he returned to Nashville.
"I can't even breathe in Tennessee,'' Jones said. "Everybody acts like I killed somebody or something. Everything that's happened, it's either been a rumor or I wasn't involved. But I've been a target ever since I've been there. I'm used to it. I just hope it gets better.''
In two interviews with The Tennessean, one by telephone and the other at his home Monday night, for the first time publicly, Jones defended himself while discussing the two incidents in April when Metro Police called him by name. He gave his reasons for not working out at Baptist Sports Park with his teammates — against the wishes of Titans Coach Jeff Fisher.
He said he's heard the buzz about the team needing to unload him, but he's not sure why they would.
Jones talked as if the events of the last year — especially the last month — have taken a toll.
Jones, 22, was the team's first-round draft pick in 2005. Since, the team has paid him at least $9.2 million in bonuses, and his base salary for this fall is $842,500.
Yet, his rookie season included verbal altercations with fans, game officials and an opposing coach, along with a number of off-the-field incidents, though Jones is quick to point out his record is clean. In March, a judge dropped charges of misdemeanor assault and felony vandalism charges against Jones over a nightclub incident last July.
"I have no father figure. I have no one. It is just me, man,'' said Jones, whose father was killed when he was just a child. "All those other guys, when they get in stuff, they have people they can go to and all that.
"In my situation, I have been the father figure of my whole family since I have been 17 years old. I never had a dad I could go to, to sit down with and talk to and explain what I am going though and all that.
"I am not making no excuses because I have made it this far; I'll be all right. I really don't give a (expletive) about what a lot of people say and that is really what my attitude is right now. I am just trying to be a role model for the people that love me. I can't worry about what the media and other people are saying because if I do that I definitely won't be mentally strong. ... But it seems like everyone wants me to snap.''
Police blotter
After a relatively quiet offseason, Jones' name first came up on April 14 when Metro Police named him as an acquaintance of a suspect in a major drug-trafficking ring.
Jones' nickname was embroidered as "Pac Man" on the black leather seats of a 2004 Cadillac XLR, a pricey sports car that authorities confiscated from Darryl Jerome Moore's apartment in Bellevue. Jones said he was out of town when Moore, an aspiring rap singer, asked to borrow the car to shoot a rap video. He said he had no idea what the car would be used for.
"I know a lot of people. ... I was gone for about a month and (a friend) said a guy wanted to borrow my car and said he would shoot video and a couple of pictures,'' Jones said. "I was like, 'That's cool.' I have 12 cars so that is not the first time I let somebody use one of my cars. As a matter of fact, I had Allen Iverson use one of my (cars) in Atlanta not too long ago. But it's not like I am going around to find people to drive my cars.''
Jones didn't expect to find out Moore was allegedly involved in a trafficking ring.
"Hell yeah, I was surprised. I know him, but I don't know of him. You know what I am saying?'' Jones said. "I know he has a record label, but I don't know what he does. I met him at a club a few times, and I go home and he goes home. It is not like my best friend or somebody I am hanging out with.... ''
Five days later, Jones was on hand at 1:50 a.m. when gunshots were fired after an altercation at a local gas station. Police named Jones as a witness.
Jones said the whole thing started when he ran into another artist who had put his name in a rap video without his permission.
"I told him he couldn't do that, and we got in an argument. Then there were two shots, and I ran to the door of (the gas station),'' Jones said. "Now if I knew who fired the shots, I wouldn't have run for the door. If somebody I knew was shooting, why would I be running?''
Jones said he got even more paranoid two days after that incident, which he said contributed to his decision to leave Nashville for a while. By then, he'd also grown weary of all the media attention. He even filed a police report when a television reporter showed up in his driveway.
"There was an undercover police officer, and I was three lanes over from him. He said I didn't have on my seat belt so as we made the turn he pulls us over,'' Jones said. "I gave him my license and registration and everything and then he asked me if I have anything in the car like I am a drug dealer or something. He had me wait 45 minutes to bring dogs and everything, checked the car, and there wasn't anything in the car. That's the kind of stuff that I've had to deal with.''
Workout controversy
The same afternoon Jones was named as a witness to gunshots, Fisher summoned him to Baptist Sports Park. It was April 19.
"Actually, at first the conversation wasn't that good with Coach,'' said Jones, who declined to elaborate further.
Jones hasn't taken part in the team's offseason program since, instead choosing to work out on his own with a personal trainer in Phoenix. He spent the past few days closing on a condominium in Miami.
The offseason program at the team's Metro Center facility is not mandatory, but the Titans strongly encourage participation.
"It's his choice,'' Fisher said of Jones. "He knows where I stand on this, and this is his choice. I have reason to believe he is working out. Beyond that, I don't know.''
After working out in Phoenix during the past several weeks, Jones returned to Nashville on Monday and said he plans to take part in the remaining 12 days of organized team activities, one of which is scheduled for today. In addition to the offseason program, which emphasizes conditioning, the Titans and other NFL teams are allowed to work on the field 14 days during the offseason.
By not being around for the majority of the offseason, however, Jones won't earn the $150,000 workout incentive in his contact, which calls for him to be there 80 percent of the time.
"I'll be there for the OTAs (organized team activities). I'll be there for all the team functions, I just won't work out there, I don't care what anybody says, I will not be there for (offseason program),'' Jones said.
"It is not like what they are putting us through at the facility is something I can't handle. It is just the mental aspect of what I am going through. I just had a baby; that is the biggest thing on my plate. My mom is going through a lot right now. I have to make sure that I am mentally ready to handle everything with the (media) every day, folks popping up at my door and all that. At the end of the day, I still have to make sure I am mentally all right.''
But Jones said Monday night that he'll consider spending more time at the facility if he's able to move into his new home outside Nashville soon. Jones is moving out of his current home off Woodmont Boulevard to a place with roughly 15 acres so he can have more privacy, he said.
Jones said he doesn't believe his absence will end up hurting his relationships with his teammates, relationships he believes are strong in some cases. But he said only a handful of players understand what he's going through.
"I don't think it will hurt the camaraderie with teammates. All we're doing is working out and running. Keith (Bulluck) calls me pretty much daily to check up on me and make sure I am all right. Reynaldo (Hill) called me. Antoine Harris calls me. The strength coach calls me sometimes,'' Jones said.
"Of course (Coach Fisher) is going to say that I should be there; that is his job. But what about me and my personal life? I can't even explain it.''
Pacman's Story
Pacman's Story
Linear Mode
