SPIT SPAT: Adam “Pacman” Jones has a penchant for spitting in women’s faces. |
Slowly, imperceptibly, as though it were being pulled by butterflies, the cumulative arrest record of current and former Ohio State University Buckeye football players is approaching the status of great football crime families, nearing the Olympus where live giants like Miami and Florida State.The school’s latest bust involved current Tennessee Titan linebacker Rob Reynolds, who pleaded guilty last week to two misdemeanor charges of criminal misconduct stemming from an incident in which he threw a phone at his estranged wife. Most football players throw fists, not telephones, forcing Reynolds into the ranks of Naomi Campbell, Russell Crowe, and the wife of former NBA curiosity Manute Bol.
Reynolds, who was drafted out of OSU by the Titans, also joins the large club of recent crime-doing Buckeyes. The Maurice Clarett situation is already well-known, but this year’s top team has had plenty of other high-profile shenanigans, including a second-degree-robbery jig by a couple of sophomores (tight end Louis Irizarry and tailback Ira Guilford) who jumped a stranger and stole his wallet last spring. That incident says everything you need to know about OSU; any halfway-decent program would curb such behavior by giving key performers phony car-dealership jobs.
Other recent Buckeye busts include former star wideout Santonio Holmes, now with the Steelers, who was hauled in on a bizarre traffic incident this past summer, and current Indianapolis Colt Mike Doss, who last year was busted for shooting a gun on the streets of Akron, Ohio.
Reynolds, incidentally, had been involved in a choking incident while at OSU. In that particular case, he apparently got drunk early one morning, went to see his estranged wife, found another man’s number in her cell phone, destroyed said phone by throwing it against a wall, punched a hole in that wall, and pushed his ex. Their divorce was finalized shortly thereafter.
Ms. Pacman
Speaking of Tennessee Titans under arrest, this Adam “Pacman” Jones thing is getting out of hand. For the second time this year, the highly touted young cornerback has been arrested for allegedly spitting on women at nightclubs.
This time, Jones is accused of spitting in the face of 21-year-old Krystal Webb at Nashville’s Club Mystic. He faced similar accusations after an incident in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in August.
Jones is racking up some of the lamer post-arrest excuses in recent memory. In the Murfreesboro incident — even after his coach, Jeff Fisher, announced to the entire country that he thought his player was guilty of the charges — both Pacman and then-lawyer Roger May insisted the DB was innocent.
Jones claimed his wallet had been stolen, and even though police described him as having bloodshot eyes and slurring his words, he refused to admit he was drunk. “I was an innocent bystander,” Jones said. “I wasn’t drunk. I was there with my hands behind my back.” His attorney only complained that the theft went uncharged:
“It was my understanding that there was little or no investigation of the theft of the purse or the theft of the wallet,” May said.
