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TRANSCRIPT: Pacman Jones' interview with ESPN - Nashville, Tennessee - Friday, 08/10/07 - Tennessean.com

excerpt:

Titans cornerback Pacman Jones appeared on ESPN's First Take on Thursday morning with TNA Wrestling co-founder Jeff Jarrett. Some excerpts from the interview:

Q: Let's go back to April, when Commissioner Goodell announced that you had been suspended for the season. What was your initial reaction?


Jones: "I think it was kind of harsh at first, but I am a man, I am going to stand up to what he imposed. Everybody keeps saying I have been arrested six times. I haven't been arrested six times. I have only been arrested twice. I have been accused and people have put warrants out on me numerous times, but as of today I am on no probation. I haven't been charged with anything. I am just keeping my head up and making sure I am doing everything to make sure I am all right with myself. I have a beautiful little girl that I love to see every day, and I am enjoying spending time with her.''

Q: There were reports at the time of your suspension that you had been to a strip club in New York the night you met with the commissioner. How do you respond to those reports?

Jones: "I was in a strip club. I did go and get something to eat. If I could do anything different I wouldn't have went in and got nothing to eat then. It wasn't no girls in there, I just happened to go there. It is what it is. He asked me if I went to a strip club the night before. I said 'Yeah.' He said, 'What did you go for?' I said 'To get something to eat.' "

Q: Why have you had such hard time staying out of trouble in the media spotlight?

Jones: "I am not trying to put Nashville on blast, but when I first came in I was the first holdout for two weeks and I made a couple of bad decisions about where I chose to go and who chose to hang around. I think that was my first decisions and why I had the most trouble when I came down here. I had to pick my places better and who I hang around a little bit better.''

Q: You said you wanted to prove to your teammates and fans that you were worthy of their support, that you were trying to regain their respect. What have you done to try and do that?

Jones: "I talk to my teammates every day, Keith Bulluck, Vince, LenDale White, Reynaldo Hill, we are on instant checks every time they get out of practice. What's going on? How was practice? … As far as the community, I am doing a lot of stuff in the community. … I am in and out of the Boys and Girls Club every day. The main part is it is not getting reported everything I do, but as long as I am talking to my teammates and I am feeling right with myself everything will be all right.''

Q: What are you going through right now?

Jones: "I am going through a lot. Everybody is talking about wrestling, and if it ain't wrestling, why is he doing this, why is he doing that? I don't really think the way you have me portrayed doing wrestling, I don't think it is a bad thing. I am not downtown with people in the middle of a bar. You want me to stay out of the clubs and now I pick up the wrestling thing. Now you don't want me to wrestle. What ya'll want me to do, just sit in the house and be miserable all day? I can't do that. … I am just keeping my prayers up and looking forward to game 10.''

Q: Are you still going to clubs right now?

Jones: "No.''

Q: Why did you choose to go into wrestling?

Jones: "It is just something I have always been a fan of. Jeff (Jarrett) came to me and said, 'Since we have a couple of weeks off, do you want to wrestle?' I was like, 'Bring a ring out here and let me see how good I am.' He brung the ring out here and I was pretty good, I learned pretty much all the moves and how to fall within the first two days within 40 minutes. I said 'I'll give it a shot.' ''

Q: What about the wrestling as far as the NFL. How does this help you get back into the good graces of the league?

Jones: "A lot of players in the NFL have gotten into wrestling. The only thing I can do is stay out of trouble. I don't think wrestling has nothing to do with me getting back Game 10, if it do then I don't know what to say about that.''

Q: What has the response been from your teammates?

Jones: "My teammates think it really is a joke. They are like, 'You are not wrestling, get out of here.' I actually got a call from Keith the other day saying, 'What are you doing, man?' I said, 'What are you talking about?' He was like, 'You really are wrestling?' I was like, 'Yeah, Keith.' He was like, 'You better not get hurt.' … Keith is a great friend of mine, I respect that guy to death. I look at him like a big brother.''

Q: There's nothing in your contract that prohibits you from doing this, where you could possibly get injured away from the game?

Jones: "In the contract, nothing could possibly stop anything unless you get hurt. I don't even look at getting hurt, that is not a worry of mine. If I think about getting hurt that's how you get hurt. I am practicing two times a day, working out twice a day, getting ready for game 10, and for the most part all I can do right now is sit back, relax, and enjoy myself in some kind of fashion.''

Q: How confident are you that you will have that suspension reduced and you will be back after Game 10?

Jones: "All I can do is what the commissioner asks me to do. I am attending my counseling classes like he asked me to do, I am doing my community service. I am doing whatever I have to do to be back game 10 and hopefully I can get back a couple of games earlier. That would be nice if Goodell is listening to this … . All I can do is keep my prayers up and do what he asks me to do.''

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