‘Time Out’
Do the demographics of sports newsrooms contribute to the sometimes negative coverage of Black athletes?
By David Pluviose
It’s possible Adam “Pacman” Jones will never step foot on a football field again. The gamebreaking cornerback and kick returner for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans franchise has found himself making national headlines for all the wrong reasons since he came into the league in 2005. In the past two years, he’s been arrested six times and questioned in connection with several other criminal incidents. In April, newly named NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell decided to make an example of Jones. Goodell suspended the troubled player for the entire 2007 season, saying in a letter to Jones that his behavior had brought “embarrassment and ridicule upon yourself, your club, and the NFL, and has damaged the reputation of players throughout the league.” Jones’ yearlong suspension is unprecedented, especially since he has yet to be convicted of any crimes. But his repeated high-profile brushes with the law had even fellow players reportedly approaching Goodell and demanding action.
Sports journalists and commentators of all stripes have piled on the criticism, recounting the various strip club and nightclub brawls and shootings Jones has reportedly been involved in. During a recent ESPN Radio interview, Tennessean reporter Jessica Hopp likened Jones to a “black cloud” hanging over Nashville, saying many fans can’t wait to be rid of him.
Although it’s difficult to defend Jones’ behavior, some journalists have delved deeper into his past, hoping to uncover insights into what may be fueling his present-day troubles. Going beyond the police reports, the journalists have talked to Jones’ relatives, friends, former coaches and others, revealing a history of poverty and violence that could provide context to the turbulence that is threatening to derail Jones’ career. Raised in an impoverished, drug-ridden housing project, Jones had to overcome the incarceration and shooting death of his father as well as the deaths of a high school mentor and the grandmother who raised him.
