Tennessee judge drops charges against Jones
Adam "Pacman" Jones is busy clearing away the legal problems that led to his suspension from the NFL.
His biggest challenge, however, may be proving he can control himself.
Suspended for the 2007 season, the NFL will review Jones' status after the Pro Bowl. Commissioner Roger Goodell has said actions, not words, speak loudest.
A Tennessee judge dismissed two misdemeanor charges Thursday from an incident Aug. 25, 2006, leaving only one criminal charge still pending against Jones in Georgia. But he didn't help himself by being in an Atlanta strip club Jan. 3 while the Titans were prepping for a playoff game.
An attorney who asked that Jones be arrested for allegedly punching her withdrew her request Jan. 16. Atlanta police said Thursday they will not investigate Jones without the victim's help.
Worrick Robinson, one of Jones' attorneys, said the issue of the cornerback being in a club remained and that there's no excuse for that.
"He's a grown man. … But he's got to take responsibility for his actions. When he's asked, he's going to have to step up and say he was there, that there is no excuse," Robinson said.
Jones did not comment Thursday when asked if he had done enough to be reinstated.
With Jones' no contest plea in Las Vegas on Dec. 6, he now has only one pending charge of felony obstruction left in Georgia from a February 2006 encounter with a police officer. A hearing in that case has been postponed until March.
Mariucci on Redskins' list: It's time to move Steve Mariucci from "maybe" to "definite" on the list of Washington Redskins coaching candidates. The former San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions coach will interview with owner Dan Snyder about the Redskins vacancy, a person familiar with the selection process told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The interview will take place in Arizona before the Super Bowl on Sunday, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the Redskins have not publicly released the names of any candidates.
Upshaw says union prepared: A defiant Gene Upshaw said that if the NFL's owners opt out of the current labor agreement later this year, the players union is ready for a strike or the decertification tactics it used to get free agency after the 1987 walkout.
"If they want to get out of the deal, there's nothing we can do about it," the executive director of the NFL Players Association said Thursday before the union's annual Super Bowl news conference. "But we'll be prepared."
The labor agreement reached after tough bargaining in March 2006 gave both sides the right to opt out in November. That would lead to 2010 being an uncapped year before the contract expires in 2011. Several owners, including Denver's Pat Bowlen, have suggested that the current agreement is leaving some teams cash-strapped and making it likely that the owners will opt out next year.
Upshaw said that he's heard the complaints and is ready for any outcome.
"At our meeting in March, our priorities for discussion are four options: strike, lockout, decertification or extension," he said.
Players to accept HGH test: NFL players will consent to a urine test for Human Growth Hormone once such a test is developed. Scientists, however, appear to be closer to developing a blood test for HGH, which stimulates growth and cell reproduction in humans.
"We all know there is no reliable test for HGH," Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association said Thursday at the union's Super Bowl news conference. "Until a test is developed for HGH, there's really not an awful lot to talk about. And when that test is developed, we really believe it should be a urine test. No one is interested in a blood test. We got a lot of big, tough guys, but they don't even like to be pricked on the finger to give blood."
Commissioner Roger Goodell has said repeatedly since taking office just before the 2006 season that the league would implement a test for HGH as soon as one was found.