Fresh Loaf

Fleming Daniels, a.k.a. Ill

In news that would never have seen the light of day had disgraced NFL star Adam “Pacman” Jones not been named in a lawsuit, it appears the former Dallas Cowboy had been covering the attorney fees for the Black Mafia Family’s third-in-command, Fleming “Ill” Daniels.

In fact, Pacman allegedly picked up the tab for legal representation in a whopping 18 cases involving his friends and family.

Daniels, who was a major player in BMF co-leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory’s $270 million cocaine ring, is under indictment in Fulton County for the 2004 shooting death of Rashannibal “Prince” Drummond, who was gunned down in the parking lot of Midtown’s now-defunct Velvet Room.

According to the AJC, the high-priced attorney who was representing Daniels on the murder charge, Manny Arora, is suing Pacman for failing to pay more than $10,000 in fees the lawyer had been promised in exchange for representing Pacman’s friends and family, including Daniels.

Documents filed in Fulton County Superior Court show that Arora removed himself from Daniels’ case last year and was replaced with a public defender.

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Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones, a College Park native, might be skilled on the field. But he could use some pointers on strip-club etiquette. A February Las Vegas strip-club brawl allegedly started after Jones tossed $81,000 cash in the air in order to “make it rain,” before he threatened to kill club employees and bit a bar bouncer. Last Friday, he was charged in Las Vegas on two felony charges of coercion. Now he’s wanted for questioning in a June 18 Moreland Avenue shooting that occurred after his visit to Atlanta nudie bar Club Blaze.

I understand my responsibilities to my teammates, the Titans and my fans and I am committed to turning my life around and being a positive member of the NFL.

— Adam “Pacman” Jones on June 12, after he accepted his yearlong suspension and six days before the Club Blaze shooting

It’s time for the word “pacman” to become a verb. “To pacman” needs to become part of the lexicon. “To pacman” means to repeatedly do a stupid thing while professing to understand its stupidity. For example: Dude pacmanned himself when he kept going to strip clubs with his gun-toting friends even after it cost him millions of dollars.

— ESPN.com’s Tim Keown on June 20

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Now that Adam “Pacman” Jones faces two felony charges stemming from a strip club melee in Las Vegas that preceded a triple shooting (which left one of the victims, a security guard, paralyzed), his career as an NFL cornerback is in serious jeopardy. As is his immediate freedom.

Obviously, Jones didn’t learn his lesson in Vegas — his crew was involved in a shooting incident early Monday morning at a strip club on Memorial Drive.

ESPN’s ever-present John Clayton says it may be a long time before Jones — already suspended for a year for conduct unbecoming a player — ever steps foot on an NFL field.

What has to be remembered about Commissioner Roger Goodell’s initial ruling is that Jones was given no assurance he would be allowed back into the league in 2008. It’s becoming more and more likely that Jones is going to have a difficult time being cleared of his legal troubles by November.

Jones’ most recent incident over the weekend illustrated the [Tennessee] Titans cornerback isn’t taking his situation seriously. Whether he was guilty or innocent of any crime, Jones was out with friends at around 4 a.m. and has knowledge of his friends having some involvement in a shooting incident outside of a strip club.

One of Jones’ conditions to get back into the league was promising to not be out past midnight. He’s violated that provision at least twice. Earlier this spring, he was driving without a license at 12:45 in the morning.

If convicted of the charges in Vegas, Jones faces up to 12 years in prison. According to police in Vegas, the melee there started when Jones was showering dancers with money from a black plastic trash bag. It’s a form of tipping referred to as “making it rain.” When two dancers began to fight over the cash, Jones allegedly grabbed one by the hair and punched her. Which brought security. Which escalated into gunfire.

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ESPN.com’s Tim Keown has a novel idea about Pacman Jones, the metro Atlanta native and Tennessee Titans cornerback … at least before he was suspended for the upcoming season by the NFL. Jones has been questioned by police 10 times since being drafted in 2005, including April of last year when police identified him from surveillance video diving for cover after shots were fired at a Nashville gas station.

Jones has been arrested five times. But the good news is this: Jones has not been convicted of any crimes since being drafted in 2005.

Just as Jones was saying he’d learned his lessons, etc., etc., he and his friends were allegedly involved in a fight inside a Memorial Drive strip club at 4 a.m. Monday that led to a shooting outside. Says Keown:

It’s time for the word “pacman” to become a verb. This latest incident, in which members of Pacman Jones’ entourage allegedly shot at another unknown entourage outside an Atlanta-area strip club around 4 a.m. Monday, clinches the deal. “To pacman” needs to become part of the lexicon.

“To pacman” means to repeatedly do a stupid thing while professing to understand its stupidity. For example: Dude pacmanned himself when he kept going to strip clubs with his gun-toting friends even after it cost him millions of dollars. Pacman Jones said he was going to change his life. That was a few weeks ago, and we have to be fair here — from the time he said he was going to change his life until the early hours of Monday morning, he wasn’t wanted for questioning by the police.

He is now, though, but there’s a positive spin here, too. Police say that Pacman wasn’t present when the shooting took place, so he’s just wanted for questioning and not for prosecution.

Call it progress. It just goes to show you the power of pacmanning. You have to wean yourself off. You can’t go cold turkey.

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Excuse my favorite arcade-game reference; this is no childish matter.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came down hard on CB Pacman Jones today when it was announced the Tennessee Titans player would be suspended for the entire 2007 NFL season.

About the suspension, Goodell had this to say: “We must protect the integrity of the NFL. The highest standards of conduct must be met by everyone in the NFL because it is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right. These players, and all members of our league, have to make the right choices and decisions in their conduct on a consistent basis.”

Georgia-born Jones attended Westlake High School in Atlanta and had a great on-field season in 2006 for the Titans, nabbing a career-best four interceptions while tying for the league lead in punt returns for touchdowns with three. But it was his off-field moves that had everybody talking.

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