JERRY JONES CALLS PACMAN SUSPENSION TALK “RIDICULOUS”

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones continued to talk about the newest controversy regarding his highest-profile acquisition of the 2008 offseason. And we get the feeling that Jerry Jones is displaying all the objectivity of the mother of a hardened criminal. Tim McMahon of the Dallas Morning News has quotes from Jones’ weekly radio appearance. “It’s ridiculous to be having a conversation about a suspension over this matter,” the owner said regarding the question of whether the NFL will suspend Pacman Jones for his fight with a team-issued bodyguard. “This was a nothing.” But it wasn’t “a nothing.” It was “a something.” The question is whether it was enough of “a something” to run afoul of the terms of Pacman’s reinstatement, or to constitute a fresh violation of the Personal Conduct Policy. From the team’s perspective, it’s no big deal. From the league’s perspective, it might be a different issue. On a brighter note, Jerry Jones admits that he’s sort of an enabler. But not in the way that the rest of us would think. “I almost feel like it’s an enabler,” Jones said, “because it’s the very people that I have with him that created this. Had we not had that security with him, this wouldn’t have happened. Really. Had we not had the security with him, it wouldn’t have happened.” Ho. Lee. Crap. Let’s see if we understand this logic. Jerry Jones enabled Pacman Jones not by offering up flimsy excuses in the wake of further antisocial behavior, but by creating the scenario that allowed Jones to behave in an antisocial manner. Under that theory, we should just empty out a prison whenever one of the inmates stabs a guard. Because we as a society enabled the misconduct by putting the inmate in a position where he might be agitated by his confinement. Here’s the reality -- if Pacman Jones can’t behave even when he is provided with ‘round-the-clock security personnel aimed at keeping him out of trouble, he should not be playing in the NFL. The problem is that Jerry Jones put his ego and reputation on the line when he made a play for Pacman Jones. And so if Pacman Jones acting like an idiot will in turn make Jerry Jones look foolish, then Jerry Jones’ smartest move is to act as if Pacman Jones didn’t do anything wrong. And so the responsibility in this case falls to the NFL. We initially thought that the league office had opted to take its time on this one in the hopes that the tension between the Cowboys and Pacman has reached a critical mass, and that Pacman would do something to prompt the team to dump him before the NFL would have to intervene. But with Jerry Jones digging in deep in his defense of Pacman, we now think that nothing Pacman does will get him fired by the team. Thus, it’s the obligation of the league to send a message to all players and teams that playing in the NFL truly is a privilege -- especially for a guy who previously squandered it.