Adam Jones, we hardly knew ye. Just six weeks into his second chance with the Dallas Cowboys, the artist formerly known as Pacman has been suspended for at least four games after drunkenly brawling with a bodyguard inside a Dallas hotel on October 8. With twelve incidents of arrest or police questioning since being drafted 2005, it seems unlikely that Jones will be given a third chance. Team owners are, after all, businessmen, and no matter how good Jones is—although his performance this year has been mediocre at best in one of the league’s worst secondaries—his antics off the field are beginning to overshadow his actions on it.
Jones isn’t the only one suffering from his lack of judgment. Resident NFL Bad Newz poster boy Michael Vick’s chances of reinstatement after he gets out of prison, probably this spring, will decline significantly in the wake of Jones’ suspension. With the failure of the Pacman Experiment, teams will be less likely to take a risk on Vick, even if the NFL decides to rescind his indefinite suspension—which is too bad, considering that Vick has been playing uplifiting Longest Yard style prison football games and is supposedly in the best shape of his career.
That’s where the United Football League comes in. If you haven’t heard of it, the UFL is a new professional league that hopes to open with six franchises in August 2009, one of which will be owned by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. You can bet that Cuban, who has no problem with star athletes who have embarrassing hobbies (Josh Howard), or egomaniacs who can’t control their tempers (Mark Cuban), can barely contain his excitement at the opportunity to sign either fallen star. And who can blame him? Right now Vick’s making twelve cents an hour washing dishes and has expressed a desire to play for whoever will have him. If that means spending a year or two with a lesser league in order to gain back the trust of owners and fans, you can bet he’ll sign with Cuban or another UFL team. With nothing to lose and publicity to gain, a UFL team might even outspend an NFL team to capitalize on Vick’s talent and draw.
So far, the UFL has only one committed franchise owner, Cuban, and a few prospective markets in which to locate new teams. If and when the league does come together, games will be played on Friday nights, although a television contract has yet to be negotiated. Alternative football leagues—American Football League, United States Football League, XFL, Canadian Football League—have historically had a tough time attracting interest, and even with Vick and Jones, the new UFL will have a tough time making a profit. Nevertheless, the idea of a sort of minor league football league is an exciting prospect. It would give bad apples like Vick and Jones a chance for redemption, aging stars like Daunte Culpepper a shot at a comeback, and undrafted or late-round picks an opportunity to gain playing experience. And with much lower operating costs than their NFL equivalents, UFL teams would be able to service smaller markets like Hartford that haven’t been able to land a franchise. Even Las Vegas, a pariah city when it comes to sports, is slated to have a team.
Let’s hope for their sakes that Vick and Jones end up in Hartford instead.
Get in a drunken brawl with Jeff at jgb39@georgetown.edu.
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