Bengals players face possible suspensions

Rich Hidy
Cincy Sports Spot

The Bengals have had a pretty quiet and productive offseason for the most part, but the legal troubles that have haunted  the team in the past may pick back up again by the time training camp and preseason action arrives. The Bengals have two players who could be facing Roger Goodell and the NFL disciplinary board for incidents that have occurred. One of the incidents happened recently to a repeat suspension receiver in cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones.

Jones has been suspended a total of three times in his career. He was suspended for one game in his rookie season with the Titans for multiple incidents. He was involved in a Las Vegas shooting incident in 2007, and Goodell suspended him for the entire 2007-08 season. Jones was traded for a fifth round draft pick to the Cowboys in 2008, and played for the team until he was involved in an altercation with his bodyguard. Pacman Jones was out of the lineup for another six games after that incident, and was released by the team after the season.

When Jones joined the Bengals in 2010 after playing in the CFL, he seemed like a changed man. Jones stayed out of trouble until he suffered a neck injury after playing in five games and earning an interception and two fumble recoveries. Jones played eight games in 2011 without any incidents besides a minor verbal argument with Bengals coaches on the sidelines in the Bengals' playoff loss against the Texans. He even played well enough to earn a one year extension in 2012, and later a three year extension following a tremendous 2012 in the slot corner position with nine pass deflections and a punt return for a touchdown.

Jones looked and acted like a new man as he began to mentor young NFL players by warning them not to make the same mistakes that he has as a young man. Jones has spoken at the last two rookie symposiums. However, it is hard to ignore the alleged assault in early June of a woman at a downtown Cincinnati bar. The woman called 911 and claimed that Jones hit her when Jones says he was out with his teammates after a Reds game. The surveillance video does show a physical altercation of some kind outside the bar, although it is very difficult to see exactly what happened. Jones did get struck by the woman, who he claims he knocked down for means of self defense following being struck by a bottle in the woman's hand. Pacman Jones pled not guilty in the incident and is still awaiting the results of the case.

The latest incident involving Jones makes one wonder why Jones once again put himself in a situation at a public place that always seems to lead the troubled corner down a dangerous path. Why was Jones at a bar late on a weekday night? There is not much good that can come from a player being out late at night at a bar with strangers. Even if the woman offended Jones and egged him on, he should have had the wit to walk away and not escalate the issue, especially with his reputation and troubles in the past. I think there is almost no chance of Jones getting out of this latest legal trouble unscathed. There will probably be a meeting with the league office and Commissioner Goodell in the works, and Jones will likely be suspended for two to four games to start the year.

An unlikely source for off field trouble is now being talked about in an involvement with former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez in a shooting back in 2007. A police report in 2007 brings up Bengals safety Reggie Nelson and Hernandez as suspects in a Gainesville shooting when both players were college athletes at Florida. The report states that Hernandez fired five shots and injured two people with life threatening wounds, and both Hernandez and Nelson, who was with the tight end in his car, fled the scene. If the shooting is further investigated and it turns out the suspect Hernandez is responsible for the crime, Nelson could be in trouble too as an accomplice to the shooting. It is unlikely that the authorities will be able to figure out exactly what happened during that night in 2007, but someone should be brought to justice for the Gainesville shooting.

I don't think there's a high likelihood of Nelson getting suspended by the NFL. This shooting happened when Nelson wasn't even in the league yet, and since he hasn't had any off field troubles since entering the league as a first round pick with the Jaguars, Nelson probably won't face suspension. Plus, Nelson is described as not having direct action in committing the crime. Nelson should have been more alert at Florida and not have involved himself with someone known to be troubled, but his immature actions in the past won't affect his eligibility in the 2013 NFL season.