Pacman Jones
He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans sixth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. Adam Jones won the TNA World Tag Team Championship With Ron Killings and beat the tag team of Sting and Kurt Angle at Bound for Glory.
Jones was suspended from the NFL for the entire 2007 season for off-the-field conduct.
During his suspension Jones signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), despite an agreement between TNA and the Titans organization that he would only have a "non-physical" role in the company, He also established a record label, National Street League Records, and performed as one half of the Posterboyz rap duo.
Early years
Jones attended Westlake High School in Atlanta, Georgia. Jones was selected as the conference Player of the Year following his senior year after totaling 120 tackles, six interceptions and 1,850 rushing yards.
Jones was raised by his mother, Deborah Jones, and his grandmother, Cristine Jones, for most of his life. When Jones was a freshman at West Virginia, his grandmother died of cancer.
Jones missed a game to attend the funeral, the only game he missed in his three-year collegiate career. On the day of the NFL Draft, Jones wore a t-shirt that featured his grandmother's picture.
College career
Jones also was an Athletic Coaching Education major and a member of the Athletic Director's Academic Honor Roll.
During 2003, he appeared in all 13 games, starting 9 at cornerback, and taking over full-time kick return and punt return duties. Jones' second season resulted in a second team All-Big East Conference selection with his career-high 89 tackles and four interceptions, one being for a touchdown.
He also had six tackles for losses, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He also had a career-high 14 broken up passes that season as well.
In one of his best games of the year, against Boston College, Jones scored two touchdowns in a 35-28 win over the Eagles, one a 87-yard kick return and the other a 47-yard interception return. Jones totaled 98 punt return yards on 16 punt returns and 867 kick return yards, including an 87-yard touchdown return.
As a junior in 2004, he was the defensive secondary captain and led the team in tackles and interceptions.
Jones also played briefly on offense, as well as returning punts and kick-offs for the second season. He led the team with 76 tackles, also adding two sacks, three interceptions, and seven broken up passes.
He even had a long touchdown run against UConn that was called back due to a penalty. He is also ranked eleventh on the school's career punt return yardage list with 404 yards, while his 10.92 yards per punt return is the sixth most in school history.
Jones and fellow-Mountaineer great Major Harris also shared the number #9 while playing in college.
Professional career
Tennessee Titans
After his junior year, Jones opted to forgo his senior year and declare eligible for the NFL Draft. He was the first defensive player drafted, taken 6th overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2005 NFL Draft.
Also in 2005, Jones traveled to Pearl Cohn High School in Nashville, Tennessee to help the school after one of its football players died in a car crash that also injured others on the team. Jones reached out to them during the season, making at least two trips to visit the team for encouragement.
Additionally, Jones donated money so Nashville firefighters and police officers could get new uniforms.
During his rookie season he had a total of 44 tackles and 10 pass deflections, but no interceptions. Jones and Reynaldo Hill made up the only rookie duo to start at least 10 games each at cornerback in the NFL.
Many Tennessee fans felt that Jones was a disappointing pick, compared to the performance of the Titans' seventh round pick Reynaldo Hill, who had two interceptions with 39 tackles.
At the end of his sophomore season in the NFL, Jones totaled career-high 62 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, 12 deflected passes, 4 interceptions, 130 return yards, one interception touchdown, 14 passes defended (second-team), 440 punt return yards and tied for NFL-high with 3 punt return touchdowns. His 12.9 yards per punt return average led the NFL, edging out Chicago's Devin Hester by a tenth of a yard, while his 26.1 yards per kick return average ranked him 7th in the league and 6th in the AFC.
Jones also caught two passes on offense for 31 yards (one for 17 yards) and rushed twice for 8 yards. The next week against Houston, Jones tied a career-high tackle total with eight, and picked off a Sage Rosenfels pass for his first career interception, and also posted his second touchdown on a punt return in his career in the fourth quarter with a 53-yard return.
On April 10, 2007, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced a 1-year suspension for Jones, to be re-evaluated after the 10th regular-season game, pending disposition of current cases. His agent has also announced that they will consider applying for reinstatement before the 2008 NFL Draft.
Jones also said on the radio show that he would like to play for the Dallas Cowboys, if the Titans were looking to trade him. The Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots have also expressed some interest in Jones. On March 30, Jones participated at a charity basketball event, where he then signed a football for a fan with the #21, later saying that he believes he would wear the number if he ended up in Dallas with the Cowboys. NFL Network correspondent, Adam Schefter, had also described the Tennessee-Dallas trade for Jones as being "imminent". On April 1, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that he would have a decision on reinstating Jones prior to training camp, presumedly in July. However, the next day, reports said that the trade is being delayed due to the Cowboys denying the request to provide a fourth-round pick and a pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. On April 23, 2008, Jones was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a fourth round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft and a conditional pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
However, if Jones is not reinstated by the NFL then the Titans will reimburse the Cowboys with a 2009 draft pick.
Dallas Cowboys
On April 23, 2008, ESPN reported that Jones was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. If he doesn't get reinstated by the NFL, the Titans have to send their fourth-round pick to the Cowboys in 2009.
According to ESPN, Jones also has reached a financial settlement with the Titans regarding his contract situation.
Since he was not allowed to appear in the ring, eventually a third man—Rasheed Lucius "Consequences" Creed—was added to the group.
His contract expired on October 15 and TNA chose not to renew it.
Championships and accomplishments
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
TNA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - (as part of Team Pacman)
Music
Also during his suspended season, Jones announced that he would be collaborating on a hip hop album. After the announcement was made an NFL spokesman let it be known that the NFL was looking into whether the name of Jones' record label, National Street League Records, infringed on the National Football League trademark. Jones' group, Posterboyz, released their first single, "Let it Shine", through a MySpace page.
Legal troubles
On July 13, 2005 Jones was arrested on charges of assault and felony vandalism stemming from a nightclub altercation. On September 5, 2005 Jones was a guest at the annual Nashville Sports Council Kickoff Luncheon.
On October 2005, in a petition filed by the State of West Virginia, it was alleged that Jones had not made regular and sufficient contact with his probation officer and that he did not report his July arrest in Nashville in a timely fashion. Jones was cited for misdemeanor assault for allegedly spitting in the face of a female student from Tennessee State University during a private party at Club Mystic, a Nashville nightclub.