Joe Mixon reportedly being mentored by Bengals’ Pacman Jones
By Chip Rouse
Say it ain’t so, Joe (as in Mixon).
The former Sooner running back, selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, is acclimating to the ways of the NFL as a rookie with the Cincinnati Bengals after a stellar two seasons as a running back, receiver and return specialist at Oklahoma.
As with any first-year player, there is much to learn, on and off the field, in making the transition from the college game to the NFL.
Several press and social media reports have surfaced in the last week indicating that Mixon is being mentored by none other than Adam “Pacman” Jones, who reportedly has taken the young star under his wing and supposedly is showing him the ropes and ins and outs of life in the NFL.
At first, I took this as some kind of sick joke. There could not be one individual in professional sports, or anywhere in society, for that matter, any worse for Mixon to associate himself with or confide in that Pacman Jones. Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire.
Please say it ain’t so, Joe. Get smart and find someone else to mentor you and support you in your transition to professional football.
If there is such a thing as an outlaw in the National Football League, Pacman Jones might just be the poster child.
A defensive back who has been in the NFL for 11 seasons, Jones has a laundry list of run-ins with the law, including arrests for assault, felony vandalism, marijuana, public intoxication and throwing a punch at a police officer. In 2007, the NFL suspended him for the entire season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
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Bottom line: Not someone Joe Mixon should be looking up to or be influenced by. Not now, not ever.
The Bengals took a risk when they drafted Mixon this spring. There were only two, maybe three, NFL teams out of 32 that openly said they were considering drafting Mixon because of the personal baggage he carried with him from Oklahoma. A number of NFL draft analysts predicted that he would go undrafted,
A five-star recruit out of Northern California, Mixon’s career at Oklahoma was shrouded in controversy almost from the moment he first stepped foot on campus in Norman.
He was suspended for his entire freshman season after punching a female student in the face in August 2014 and breaking several bones in the woman’s face.
Mixon later agreed to a plea deal, allowing him to maintain his innocence. He was given a one-year deferred sentence and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and undergo counseling.
The talented young running back was a major contributor to the Sooners winning back-to-back Big 12 championships, but he was never able to shake the criticism that followed his off-the-field incident before he had even played one down of football for Oklahoma.
After video surveillance footage showing images of Mixon hitting the woman was made public late last year, it reignited the public criticism aimed at the Sooner football star and at Bob Stoops and the OU administration over the way the situation was handled.
Many still believe today, because of the heightened awareness and public outrage over violence toward women, that Mixon should have been immediately dismissed from the Oklahoma team.
One reason Mixon ended up with Cincinnati is because of the Bengals’ reputation as an organization that has shown a tolerance historically for accepting players with questionable backgrounds.
A writer for Fox Sports described the situation in Cincinnati this way: “American might be the land of the second chance, but Cincinnati (the Bengals) is the home of the third, fourth and fifth.
If Mixon wants to fulfill his dream of having a successful and sustainable career in the NFL, he needs to gravitate to people of high moral character and integrity and truly help him become a better player and person.
This is not something that is in Pacman Jones’ resume or performance reviews.