Nobody feels the least bit sorry for Adam "Pacman" Jones for getting slapped with an 11 million dollar judgement this week by a Nevada jury.
Jones, who's disgusting behavior inside a Las Vegas strip club back in 2007resulted in a former professional wrestler being shot and paralyzed from the waist down, has plead poverty through his lawyer, caliming that he cannot afford to pay the settlement levied against him and that the penalty isn't fair.
What Pacman was able to afford was to bring what he claimed to be $100,000 into the Minx Night Club on the fateful night of the shooting in order to "make it rain" along with others in his entourage including rapper, Nelly, and to pay out $15,000 in hush money to people who were in the club with him that night. Among his guests was a drug dealer named Darryl Jerome Moore who supplied Jones with his weed and helped him gamble on College Football games.
When a dancer helped herself to some of the cash that Jones and his pals were tossing up into the air that night, Jones grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head against the stage, inducing a melee that poured out of the club and into the street.
A security guard who had tried to stop Jones from beating up the dancer was shot twice outside the club when a member of Jones' party opened fire into the crowd. Thomas Urbansnki, a former pro wrestler, also caught a bullet. Now he can't feel his legs.
It was Urbanski who ultimately sued Jones who faced no felony charges as a result of the strip club fracas. The Judge ruled in his favor in the civil suit, however, resulting in the 11 million dollar ruling.
The victims in the case are not likely to see anywhere close to as much money as they have been awarded in the case - but hopefuly a message has been sent, anyway. Professional athletes need to understand that they are not above the law and that they are not more important than the common man.
Pacman Jones may not be a typical athlete in terms of his behavior, but we can see shades of Pacman in the way other pros conduct. There is a tendency for them to value other people less than they value their own whims. We can see the same type of attitude reflected in the Perrish Cox case and in the dozens of DUI cases pro athletes are involved in every year.
The truth of the matter is that Pacman Jones should be known by his inmate number rather than by his uniform. The average citizen can't afford to defend himself in court as often as Jones has. He has been questioned in at leats ten sepearate incidents involving disorderly behavior. You and I would be in the slammer for sure.
Pacman Jones won't be making it rain anytime soon. He did, however, speak to players at this weeks NFL Rookie Symposium. Maybe he can help make sure that the next wave of players entering the NFL show a little more respect to the general society that ultimately pays their bills - but I doubt it.
