[CBFF] Say what you will about Tank...

[Phil DeNomme]

Wow....what a dumbass.

-----Original Message-----
From: cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com
[mailto:cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Madsen
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 2:53 PM
To: CBFF
Subject: [CBFF] Say what you will about Tank...

... but I don't think he's this stupid.

Read the whole thing.  It's a gem if it's true.

Jerry

-------------------------------------------
Updated: May 10, 2007, 3:22 PM ET
Goodell aware of Jones' pre-hearing visit to club

 		 		
By Chris Mortensen
ESPN.com
  		 		 		  	
  	 	  	  	 	

On the eve of his appeal to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Adam
"Pacman" Jones probably should avoid what he did the last time he was
in New York for the meeting that led to his one-year suspension.

 Jones went to a strip club, sources close to the league, the NFL
Players Association and Jones have confirmed.

 The night before his April 3 meeting with Goodell to talk about his
off-field conduct, Jones made a late-night trip to an adult New York
club. Jones was spotted inside the club shortly after he had a
face-to-face meeting with two leading veteran players, Takeo Spikes
and Troy Vincent, who traveled to New York to urge Jones to clean up
his act.

 When the Goodell and Jones met the next day, the commissioner already
was made aware of Jones' late-night excursion because security from
the strip club tipped off NFL security.

 Rather than directly confront Jones, the commissioner gave him a
test, sources said.

According to these sources, Goodell asked Jones what he was doing to
help himself to change his lifestyle. Jones gave a lot of the right
answers, such as volunteering that he was going to avoid the nightclub
scene.

 The commissioner asked him if the self-imposed ban included strip
clubs. Jones said yes.

 Goodell then asked Jones the last time he had visited a strip club.

Jones became a bit fidgety, perhaps suspicious that the commissioner
was on to him, before he answered, "A day ago," sources said.

 Technically, Jones told the truth, even though his actual timeline
was less than 24 hours by the moment he met with Goodell.

 Nobody but Goodell knows for sure how it factored in his decision to
suspend Jones for the 2007 season.

Friday's appeal will be a more formal hearing in which Jones' legal
representatives will present a list of 283 NFL players who have had
off-field issues or encounters without being suspended for an entire
season. In other words, they will attempt to show there was no recent
precedent for Goodell's harsh decision.

The problem for Jones is that his case is appealed to the commissioner
-- the same person who made the decision to suspend him for the 2007
season for conduct detrimental to the league on numerous occasions.
Jones' off-field conduct has included 10 incidents for which he was
interviewed by police; the most recent took place in Las Vegas during
the NBA All-Star Weekend.

Even with a spirit of cooperation between the NFLPA and Goodell on the
issue of player conduct, the goal of having the new policy drafted
into the collective bargaining agreement hit a wall.

Gene Upshaw, executive dirtector of the NFLPA, refused to adopt the
new conduct policy into the CBA unless suspensions of one year or
longer could be appealed to an independent arbitrator. The
commissioner refused, citing the proposal as a last-minute ambush by
the union, sources said.

Goodell certainly will cite that his suspension of Jones includes the
ability for Jones to be reinstated after the 10th game if he stays out
of trouble and is cleared of pending cases in Las Vegas and Atlanta.

If Goodell lets his original decision stand, there are legal scholars
-- some of whom have lofty positions in other professional sports
leagues -- who believe Jones might have a case if he seeks a remedy
through federal courts.

 Chris Mortensen covers the NFL for ESPN.

_______________________________________________
Check out the CBFF Blog:
blog.chicagobearsfanforum.com
CBFF Homepage:
www.chicagobearsfanforum.com