Posted on 04/20/2007 5:48:49 PM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam Jones bought a full-page newspaper advertisement to print an open letter in which he promised to regain the trust of his team and fans.
In the ad in the sports section of Friday's editions of The Tennessean, Nashville's daily newspaper, Jones told his family, coaches, teammates and Titans fans he must reorganize his priorities.
"In the past few weeks, I have learned a lifetime of lessons," the letter states.
Jones writes of hoping to not only meet, but exceed the expectations people have of him.
"The first step in meeting these goals is for me to stop making the poor choices that have put me in this position," the letter reads.
Jones said he plans to appeal his season-long suspension by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the same person who will hear that appeal. Cincinnati receiver Chris Henry, a teammate of Jones at West Virginia, also was suspended. But Henry received an eight-game ban.
In his letter, Jones said his attorneys advised him to appeal the suspension to "clarify some of the facts and address the unprecedented punishment that was imposed." Jones first announced his intention of appealing last week.
His attorneys had declined to comment since Jones' announcement he would appeal except to promise that a statement was coming. The appeal must be filed by April 30.
Jones said he plans to re-enroll at West Virginia University and finish his degree. he also plans to fund a scholarship for walk-on football players at WVU.
The sixth pick overall in the 2005 draft and the first defensive player taken that year, Jones has talked with police 10 times since being drafted, and been arrested five times. He has not been convicted of any charge since being drafted.
Goodell left open the chance for Jones' return after the Titans' 10th game if he meets a list of stringent requirements. That included staying out of "adverse" involvement with police and putting together a plan of community service the NFL must approve.
But Las Vegas police want to charge Jones for inciting a fight at a strip club on Feb. 19 that led to a triple shooting. Jones also did not inform the Titans of two arrests in Georgia last year, and a felony obstruction charge for allegedly biting a Fayetteville, Ga., police officer was delayed until May.
Titans owner Bud Adams has said team officials weren't sure they want Jones back unless he changes his behavior and avoids controversy off the field. Titans coach Jeff Fisher didn't want to talk about Jones during a radio interview Friday morning.
"We've moved on. I have moved on," Fisher said.
"The words he wrote came from his heart," his attorney, Manny Arora, told The Tennessean. "I don't think he could describe any better what he felt than what he wrote."
According to The Tennessean's advertising rate card, a full-page black and white ad in a Friday edition has a listed price of $11,535.30. It is not clear if Jones paid that amount, the newspaper reported.
This apology would be a lot more meaningful if he showed true remorse by deciding not to pursue the appeal. As it is, it just sounds contrived.
There is no excuse putting a guy in a wheelchair and hitting a woman like that.
Losing all “them there dollars” would make me apologize too.
Well, it sounds like he’s listening to his accountant and his lawyer, anyway. It’s a start.
Hey Pacman,
TLTL
(too little too late)
A statement fresh off some assembly line.
Odds he actually wrote it.
He may have gotten some help with the big words.
No doubt. I love these guys who suddenly become upstanding citizens AFTER they’re busted. And it is pretty hypocritical to apologize and say you’re responsible for your actions, then go forward with the appeal anyway.
The appeal is a fool’s errand. The NFL is being pounded in the media for having so many thugs that always get off light and the commissioner is digging his heels in on this case.
After Pacman’s appeal is denied, he’ll moan to the media that he’s the sacrificial lamb for all the wrongdoers before him and this open letter apology will be like it never happened.
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