I emailed John McClain of the Houston Chronicle this morning to ask his his thoughts on the whole Adam Jones debacle.
Here are my questions and his answers:
Even though Pacman is a punk and a thug who's a blight on Nashville's image, he hasn't been charged or convicted of anything. As much as most of us would like to run him out of town for being stupid, stupid isn't against the law. Thank goodness. The co-owner of the club who has made the public accusations against Pacman might be right or wrong. He admitted he wasn't at the club at the time, but he conducted his own investigation. He might be right or wrong or part-right. It's not against the law to go to strip clubs and make a fool out of yourself by throwing a bag of $1 bills on a stage. Allegedly, of course. It's not against the law to hang with other punks and jerks. It is against the law, of course, if one of them shoots somebody. Know this, though: If the Titans were to cut Pacman, teams would line up to sign him. Think about teams like the Bengals, Chargers, Broncos, Raiders, etc. They'd lavish millions on him, too, because the guy can play. Do you think the Titans would put up with all this crap from Pacman if he couldn't help them win? Of course not.
Are the Titans' hands tied when it comes to disciplinary action by the NFL?
No. The Titans could suspend him if they wanted, but they'd have to get it approved by the league and the union. The union probably would appeal, too.
Let's assume that all of the allegations the club owner has made are true. Would the Titans just flat out cut him?
If the co-owner of the club turns out to be true, then it's up to the police to charge and the courts to convict him. Then the NFL would get involved and suspend him. It's easier for a team to let the league mandate suspensions to take them off the hook. As I wrote earlier, if the Titans cut Pacman, he'd be signed in a hurry after other teams got into a bidding war with him. Let me give you an analogy. If you're married to a drop-dead gorgeous woman (or a handsome hunk) who happens to have millions, and you fight all the time and everyone knows it, and even if you treat each other worse than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, after you're divorced, she'll have lots of other suitors. And so will he even though everyone knows exactly what happened to both of you. Let me ask you guys something: Right now, everyone's angry at Pacman for putting himself in that position. Even if what he said were true and he was nothing more than an innocent bystander, Pacman still is guilty of poor judgment, at the least. But if they cut him, and his loss was the difference in a 6-10 record and contention for a wild-card spot, would fans be happy or angry next season? Fans are very forgiving once a season begins. Pacman is what he is. If you let a snake in your house and it bites you, it's your fault for bringing the snake into your house right?
Will Bud Adams ever step in and give Underwood, Reinfeldt, Fisher and ultimatum like he did with drafting VY?
Not unless Vince gives Bud an ultimatium that he doesn't want Pacman on his team. Actually, Underwood, Reinfeldt and Fisher better hope Vince doesn't make the same ultimatum about them to Bud.