BRENDAN COSGROVE

Names can't change impressions

By:

Posted: 6/29/08

Adam "Pacman" Jones has had enough. After multiple arrests and various other run-ins with the authorities, the football player-turned-wrestler has decided to try to get a fresh start in his old sport under a new name. Just call him Adam Jones. Leave the Pacman out of it.

"There's really just a lot of negativity behind [the nickname]," Jones told AP News. "It's just time for a change, man. I'm doing everything to make sure that I'm all right as a person, mentally and emotionally."

Well, that's a relief. Now at least we know Adam Jones won't be showering any strippers with one-dollar bills. That was Pacman's thing, not Adam's.

Jones hopes that by becoming simply Adam, his old habits will go out the window with the name Pacman. But is shedding a nickname enough to really make a change in a person?

He has to realize that the nickname was not the problem. The problem was the total recklessness which he displayed on a consistent basis. Police officers did not talk to him on an almost weekly basis in order to punish him for having a unique name.

A nickname was not the reason that after a visit to a nightclub, a man was left paralyzed thanks to a fight started by him. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell did not suspend him indefinitely because he didn't like being reminded of his least favorite childhood arcade game upon mention of Jones' nickname. All of these things happened because Jones was irresponsible, stupid and out of control.

But still, Jones will attempt to start his life anew, trying to reform in a way only ex-convicts can. The cornerback is off to a good start, too. He is living and working in a new city (Dallas, Texas), being seen as less of a villain and more of a victim thanks to Don Imus' most recent comments, and is closer than ever to officially being re-instated to the NFL. The stage is set for Jones' second chance.

All he needs to do now is stay out of trouble. While it seems like an easy enough task, Jones has proved it can be one of the hardest things in the world to do. And if changing his name helps him at all to accomplish that, it can be a good thing.

Ultimately it is up to him whether the new Adam Jones acts differently from Pacman. Only after Jones controls his criminal tendencies and conquers his penchant for nightclubs will people begin to see him in a new light.

For in the great Pac-man game of life, the only way we can escape the ghosts of our past is by eating the "big dot" of integrity and sending our demons running for cover, and never giving up till we've achieved the "high score" of respect.

If Jones continues to instigate late-night brawls, not only will the sports world have lost one of its most interesting and easy-to-joke-about nicknames, it

will have lost another young talent with a promising future, all for naught.

So Mr. Jones, please, no more "making it rain," no more cameos in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and no more suspensions. Rather, show us how you play the game.

- Brendan Cosgrove is a junior from Lula majoring in broadcast news.