A Premiership Waste
by Jody Jamieson
12/6/2008
 
Everyone likes to have a little chuckle at Premiership footballers such as Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney for being 'academically challenged' to put it politely.
 
Interviewer: "So Wayne, what are your plans for todays game?"
 
Rooney: "Yeah, ya knowww, well eh... we're looking to errrr.... score some goals ya knooooowwwwwwwwww........ and eh, win the game like.."
 
Interviewer: "Naturally Wayne. So how has the manager prepared you for this crucial game."
 
Rooney: "Well, he err told he believes in us and that, and that we can go out and win like, eh?"
 
It can be painful to listen to. Some Premiership players can't even get the cliches right. Even when they're saying something they say before or after any game, they still trip over it and sound like they were educated in a barn.
 
That being said, can any of those in the Premiership we like to mock be quite as questionable as Cedric Benson? Or Chris Henry? Or even the "reformed" Adam "Pacman" Jones? Or Michael Vick? Or... well you get the idea. Over the past couple of years that list has grown beyond ridiculous proportions.
 
Cedric Benson is an interesting one. Here's a guy who was selected 4th overall three years ago by the Bears. While he had his doubters, most of us believed that Benson would develop into at least a capable back in the NFL. Despite holding out for more money before training camp and Thomas Jones being named the starter, Benson still saw a decent amount of playing time through his first two years in a league, and played an admirable part in the Bears run to Super Bowl XLI. Unfortunately for him, he picked up one of his many NFL injuries in the first half of the Super Bowl and missed the remainder of the game. With Jones traded to the New York Jets, Benson was now the premier back in a Bears offense that was looking to rebound from the disappointment of missing out the previous February. Benson didn't look good until he got loose against the Broncos and suddenly we saw the explosion that he possesses. Unfortunately, he broke his ankle being tackled at the end of the run and his season was over.
 
2008 was going to be seen as a huge year for the former Texas Longhorn, and some saw it as make or break. Benson, rather than spending the off-season working hard and preparing for football, has spent the last 6 weeks getting arrested, pepper sprayed, and then arrested again. Last month he was in trouble for boating while intoxicated, and subsequently pepper-sprayed for resisting said arrest. Just over a month later he gets canned again for driving under the influence. The Bears released Tank Johnson who was more important to their success than Benson was, and ultimately Benson didn't last either. They had nothing to gain from keeping him on the roster and now he can become someone else's problem. I had originally written this article about three hours before he was released calling for him to be chopped. The bad thing about seeing into the future here at the Diner is sometimes you have go back into the kitchen and rehash your cooking before it goes out of date.
 
Two picks after Benson in the 2005 Draft, the Titans picked Adam Jones, a cornerback from West Virginia. A guy nicknamed "Pacman" because the way he drank milk resembled the Pac-Man video game character. Jones in the 3 years since he entered the NFL has been barely been out of the spotlight. Even before his first training camp, he had caused a disturbance in Nashville and was arrested for assault and felony vandalism. He didn't stop there and was later arrested numerous more times for things such as disorderly conduct, intoxication, obstruction of justice, speeding, and of course "Making it rain" in Las Vegas. The Goddellfather finally lost patience with him and banned him for the entire 2007 season.
 
Jones spent his time away from the league getting involved in other interests. He started his own record label, named National Street League Records and even performed a few songs as one half of the Posterboyz rap duo. However, he made a splash getting involved in Total Non-Stop Action Wrestling. He even became a Tag Team Champion while involved in the organisation, despite being barred from getting involved in any in ring action by the Tennessee Titans. Also most notably, Jones wasn't in trouble for anything new for the duration of his suspension. Which begs the question - is Adam Jones a reformed character?
 
Deion Sanders certainly thinks so. Not everybody gets the chance to be mentored by a Hall Of Famer like Sanders, and Jones is a lucky guy to have been taken under Sanders wing. "Prime Time" is quoted as saying that "I have a love for this kid that is insatiable. I don't want to call him my son, but I see something in him that I want to love him. I really do." Sanders is so impressed that he has even allowed the recently traded Jones to wear his old #21 with the Dallas Cowboys. Recently on Total Access, Prime Time tried to rid the "Pacman" persona from Jones by constantly referring to him on TV as Adam Jones while trying to look to the future.
 
The Cowboys have taken on guys with issues in the past and it's been a success. Terrell Owens was untouchable in 2005, but the Cowboys took him on and he's been a lot easier to deal with in Dallas than he had previously been in Philadelphia. Tank Johnson's move to Dallas has thus far been positive, and it remains to be seen if Dallas have the same success with Pacman. Jones is certainly saying the right things. "I wish I knew all of this when I first got in the league. Then I wouldn't have made some of the bad decisions that I made. It's all on me now."
 
He's right. It's all on him now. Guys like Jerry Jones, Deion Sanders and the entire Dallas Cowboys roster can only do so much. It's up to Jones to move on from his storied past and make something positive. He'll know this is his last chance, and he'll know what he has to do to stay in the league this time.
 
I hope he makes something positive of this and turns it around. I still have my doubts but stranger things have happened. Hopefully this is the start of a positive turnaround for Adam Jones and hopefully he cane make something of himself in the NFL. If he does, the Cowboys will have a bargain.