Pacman Jones suspended 'indefinitely' by NFL, heads to rehab

The saga of walking soap opera Pacman Jones continues, as he suffers fallout from a scuffle with a bodyguard hired to protect him in Dallas a week ago.  The NFL has suspended Jones ‘indefinitely’ and he may be off to alcohol rehab.  The good news is that he managed to dodge a bullet (and with Pacman involved it needs to be specified that we’re speaking metaphorically) that could have resulted in the revocation of his probation in Georgia from one of his earlier legal transgressions.

Pacman got into what has been described as a “scuffle” with his own bodyguard at the Joule Hotel in Dallas.  He was reportedly under the influence of alcohol at the time and while details were never officially confirmed the scrap apparently caused some damage to a bathroom in the hotel’s lounge.  No one was arrested in the incident, though police were called to the scene.  Recent reports in Dallas are suggesting that the police might have omitted a number of details to protect Jones and/or the Cowboys.

Despite the fact that no arrests were forthcoming, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Jones “indefinitely”—and a minimum of 4 games—for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.  Dallas owner Jerry Jones didn’t mete out any punishment because Pacman apparently didn’t violate any of his contractual agreements with the team.  The Cowboys also reported that their troubled but talented cornerback is no longer under the protection of a bodyguard detail.  Despite the suspension, Pacman was relieved that Goodell didn’t enforce a lifetime ban though the NFL commissioner made it clear that that option remained on the table in his comments:

"It's terribly disappointing to me that we're dealing with this again and that he's reflecting so poorly on all of the players in this league, which they don't deserve It's going to be up to Adam and what he does in the following weeks. Getting an evaluation and whatever treatment may be prescribed to him at that point of time. Part of it is going to be whether he's willing to do some of the things that we are asking him to do."

Jones is now weighing his next move, which appears to include some form of rehab treatment.  While some sources are reporting that the league has mandated certain treatment steps that report hasn’t been confirmed and it could simply be a case where Pacman is taking the default route for any disgraced celebrity hoping to show contrition for their actions.  So far the team has remained supportive to Pacman, and should he take the step of entering rehab would likely remain so.

There has been some good news for Pacman out of this fracas--Fayette County (GA) District Attorney Scott Ballard said that there were no plans to revoke his probation due to the incident since he was not arrested.  After the incident became public there was speculation that it could be considered a probation violation which could have put Pacman behind bars on his 2005 criminal charge which had been disposed via a plea agreement earlier this year.