Good Bye Orange Julius and The Cowboys Should Pass on Pac-Man

This weekend, the Julius Jones era with the Cowboys officially came to a close when he signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks for 4 years and $12 million. I don’t think this surprised, nor saddened, most Cowboys fans who had witnessed Julius being hailed as the next Emmitt Smith 3 years ago to only running for 588 yards on 164 carries last year — career lows despite starting 16 games — as the Cowboys relied more on Marion Barber, who ran for 975 yards and made the Pro Bowl.

I really thought Julius would have a huge year last year being that he was in his contract year and that Jason Garrett was calling the plays instead of Big Bill Parcells, who drafted Julius. However, he looked a lot like Emmitt in his last days with Dallas in that he would go to the ground on the first contact he encountered. I was rooting for Julius to prove everyone wrong and get back to the 1000 yard form he has a few years ago. Julius started just about every game and had ample opportunity to be “the guy” but did nothing with that opportunity. As a result, Barber became a fan favorite and Julius sank to obscurity.

Meanwhile, Seattle has a log jam of running backs. They have Shawn Alexander, Maurice Morris, and recently signed TJ Duckett as well. The word is Seattle will release Alexander who just 3 years ago was the league MVP. But in the “what have you done for me lately” NFL, Alexander has fallen off pretty badly and given his age (32) it appears Seattle will go in a different direction at the running back position. However, that still leaves Julius battling it out with Maurice Morris and TJ Duckett. It will be interesting to see how they use all three backs.

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Just Say NO! to Pac-Man Jones

It has been rumored that the Cowboys are interested in signing problem cornerback Adam “Pac-Man” Jones. I have one thing to say to this…HELL NO! I know Dallas, and Jerry Jones, have had some success with signing controversial, problematic players (i.e. Charles Haley back in the mid 90’s, T.O. Owens, Tank Johnson) but none of them bring the type of baggage Pac-Man brings.

Pac-Man was suspended for the entire 2007 season. Not a few games or even half the season but the entire season! Think about that. And while Tank Johnson, Dallas most recent problematic addition, has worked out nicely and has kept his name out of the papers, he has acknowledged and taken responsibility of his past problems. I saw an interview on HBO’s Real Sports with Pac-Man and he was almost defensive about his checkered past.

Make no mistake…Pac-Man is arguably a top 5 corner back in the NFL. He is also a dynamic return man. Basically, Pac-Man is the closest thing to Deion Sanders, since Deion. But Pac-Man is one of those athletes that have always been given a pass on his transgressions because of his athletic ability. And while Deion was controversial, he wasn’t a criminal. Pac-Man has been linked to many criminal transgressions (usually around strip clubs) and doesn’t seem remorseful for any of it. I mean, Michael Vick was terrible to dogs…Pac-Man is terrible to people.

If Dallas signs him, it won’t be IF he gets in trouble again but WHEN. Dallas has many, many strip clubs and with that many, many opportunities for off the field problems. And even though I was not on board with the T.O. Owens signing, he at least was not a criminal miscreant. However, to Jerry Jones, ANY press is good press even if people are talking about Dallas signing a criminal element to a team that will probably be one of the front runners in the NFC for the Super Bowl.

Jerry REALLY needs to pass on this guy. He is bad, bad news. He’s got a screw loose and will screw up again…mark my words.