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Editorial: The Cincinnati Bengals should release Pacman Jones

Posted at 4:57 PM, Jan 24, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-24 16:57:50-05

Whether he likes it or not, Pacman Jones represents his team, his city and all of Bengal Land.

That's why the Bengals should release him.

Jones' latest scrape with the law should be his last as a paid employee of Cincinnati's football team. The team should cut him loose, and soon.

Some of Jones' antics in the early morning of Jan. 3, as captured by a police cruiser's dashcam, are now available for the public to watch. We see and hear Jones, locked in the back seat of the cruiser, engage in a profanity-ridden temper tantrum that would make Tony Soprano blush.

Don't watch it with the kids in the room. Seriously.

RELATED: Editorial: Deters should prosecute Adam Jones without waiting on the Bengals or the NFL

Jones tries to intimidate the arresting officer by calling him every name in the book. Over and over again. Maybe trash talk is tolerated on the football field. In the back of a cop car, it's not a great idea.

At one point, he says to the officer, "I hope you die." Sounds like something a sulking pre-teen might say to a parent in the heat of discipline. For a 33-year-old representative of a National Football League franchise, it's not excusable. Certainly, he's aware of the police who have been attacked and killed in the line of duty, including here in Cincinnati as recently as 2015.

By the way, we tip our hat to Cincinnati Police Sgt. Jarrod Cotton for his professionalism and calmness in dealing with the nearly out-of-control Pacman.

 

Jones' backseat rage is bad, but we've only seen a piece of what happened that night.

Jones was arrested and charged with assault after what police describe as a scuffle with a security guard at the Millennium Hotel Downtown. Jones kicked and head-butted the Cincinnati police officer who was making the arrest, according to the report.

Then, according to the county sheriff, Jones spat on a nurse as he was being processed at the jail and was so combative that he had to be "placed in a restraint chair."

We haven't seen video of these alleged incidents yet, but you can just imagine.

If this was the first incident of this kind for Jones, maybe -- maybe -- the team gives him a break. But it's not. He has a history going back to his college days.

How many chances do you give a $22 million lawbreaker before you realize he's costing your team and your city its good name?

The Bengals released a bland, finger-wagging statement after the video was released, saying, "We are extremely disappointed with Adam’s behavior."

"The behavior in the video is not what we expect from our players,' it said.

OK. So what are the consequences?

In the middle of the video, Jones, apparently alluding to his celebrity status, says to Cotton, "You'll be out of a job tomorrow."

No. Pacman should be out of a job. Today.