We are nearing the end of the NFL regular season, and with that comes every team’s nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. The intent of this award is to recognize the player on each team that performs the most charitable outreach acts for their communities. From these 32 nominees, one winner of the award is chosen. It is a tremendous honor signified by the privilege of wearing the award logo on their jersey for the rest of their career. However, this isn’t addressing the NFL’s major offseason problem.
Each offseason, there is no shortage of players that run afoul of the law. Reports of drug use, domestic violence, reckless driving, assaults and other violations of the law are depressingly common. While the NFL has done a better job in recent years of curtailing this problem, more needs to be done. So, I’d like to suggest the following solution; introduce the Adam “Pacman” Jones Criminal of the Year Award.
First, a quick primer. Adam “Pacman” Jones was a cornerback during the 2000’s and 2010’s who played for most of his career for the Cincinnati Bengals. Jones was a productive and versatile enough corner to be used in a variety of defensive schemes. However, he had a penchant for getting arrested frequently, along with being the target of various civil lawsuits and NFL suspensions. Adam Jones eventually became the posterchild for bad behavior in the NFL.
Similar to the Walter Payton counterpart, the Adam “Pacman” Jones award would recognize the NFL player who ran most afoul of the law in the previous season (counting from the start of his team’s offseason to present day). The recipient of this award will have their salary capped at the league minimum for the next two years and will have to year a logo of a pair of Adam Jones’ mugshot on their jersey for the rest of their career. The lowering of the salary provides a disincentive to breaking the law, especially for big-name players with larger contracts.
However, this isn’t to say second chances aren’t possible; the player would be able to get the mugshot removed from their jersey and the cap from their salary removed, provided they meet a few milestones. First, the player must comply with any and all court orders issued by a judge (Ha! Who am I kidding? Law enforcement doesn’t crack down on athletes!). In addition, the player must maintain good behavior for the next two seasons, any further arrests would result in the clock resetting. Next, the player must appear in a number of (the specific number is up for debate) community outreach/charity programs. If the player meets these criteria, the Adam Jones mugshot will be removed from his jersey and he’ll be able to make more than league minimum again.
Much like the Walter Payton award, each team would nominate a candidate for the Adam “Pacman” Jones award. Each player receiving a nomination will receive also receive a reduced salary (somewhere between a 50%-70% reduction in salary). An NFL team that has no players on their roster with an arrest in the previous year is exempted from having to nominate a player. To prevent abuse of this system by owners, only players with an arrest in the past year are eligible. Also, if an NFL team has three players nominated in the past five years, then they forfeit their first two draft picks for the following season. So, this provides an incentive to teams to not keep criminals on their rosters.
It would be naïve to think that the players union would not push back on this. However, this is where the true weapon of the Adam “Pacman” Jones award will come in; public shaming. Politely remind the media and the players union that any attempt to repeal the Adam Jones award is an implicit acceptance of literal criminal behavior. A great public relations executive working for the league office could easily create that narrative.
Anybody who opposes this idea is siding with, again, literal criminals. As we’ve seen in the past, with issues like head trauma, bad press is a strong motivator for the NFL. So, let me know in the comments section; who do you think would win this year’s Adam “Pacman” Jones Criminal of the Year Award?
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