Playing with Fire Podcast

Dad, I Wasn’t Running, I Was Speed Walking

I think that at least one of my sons may be destined to be a lawyer. One day while my seven year old was running through the house I said, “Remember there is no running in the house!” Without missing a beat, he shot back, “Dad, I wasn’t running, I was speed walking.”

You might think I have written enough about Adam “Pacman” Jones, the NFL defensive back who received a one-year suspension from the NFL due to his poor behavior, but he and his lawyer continue to provide such clear examples of what not to do that I couldn’t resist brining attention to it one more time.

ESPN reported, “Suspended NFL player Adam “Pacman” Jones received several driving citations in a traffic stop last month in Williamson County, Tenn., where he has a home.
Jones was pulled over June 10 at 8:30 a.m. in his orange Lamborghini sports car because the tags did not match the car, WKRN-TV in Nashville reported.
Sheriff’s deputies said he had switched the plate from another vehicle he owns. He was cited with a registration violation, as well as a residency violation for having a Georgia license and failure to show proof of insurance.”

The Baltimore Sun reported, “An attorney for suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones accused a sheriff’s deputy in Franklin, Tenn., of targeting Jones in a June traffic stop, saying there was no reason to pull over Jones’ orange Lamborghini.

Attorney Worrick Robinson said he has been told the deputy had talked of his intention to pull over Jones when he had the chance. ’It was not because he was speeding. It was not because he was swerving or that he failed to obey any traffic signal or any other traffic laws,” Robinson said of the traffic stop. “He pulled him over. He had heard that Mr. Jones did not have a valid driver’s license.

News of the June 10 ticket issued in this Nashville suburb surfaced Tuesday. Robinson said he got a copy Wednesday of the ticket, which cited Jones for a 30-day residency violation with a Georgia driver’s license and no proof of insurance or registration. That citation included the notation that the deputy made the stop because another deputy told him the cornerback had no driver’s license.”

All of the traffic citations appear to be true but his lawyer, doing him no great favor, points out all the things he was not doing such as speeding or swerving. He wants to focus on the fact that a deputy acted on information about a possible violation of the law. How can you miss an orange Lamborghini? What’s the point?!? Once again, Adam is doing something he should not be and once again, he has a team of lawyers trying to divert our attention from the facts by telling us all that Adam did not do. How about just telling the truth?

I hope that it is not too late for Adam who recently wrote a public letter of apology with the promise of reforming his way of life for the better. As a father, responsible for my children’s formation, I still have time to work on the “speed walker” in our family but I know it will not be easy because dying-to-self is a challenge for all us