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7:40 PM Sun, Jun 22, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Albert Breer E-mail News tips
All the troubles of Adam "Mister" Jones' past seemed distant yesterday at the Boys and Girls Club in Fort Worth.
The embattled cornerback smiled broadly, as he played with the kids at Brandon Bass' basketball camp. He went one-on-one with a particular talented youngster, wearing red socks, whom Timmy Tabloid was touting as a star for the high school Class of 2016. And more than anything, Mr. Jones seemed comfortable around the kids.
His goal in all this? "Just to talk to them and let them know they can get where we're at," he said. "I was in the same situation, as an inner-city kid, didn't have too when I grew up. Not saying I was hurting for a lot, but I was in public school, project housing. And just let them know it can happen as long as you stay on your job.
"Everybody who makes it to the NBA, NFL, in baseball, that doesn't mean they're the best talent-wise. It just shows you they stayed up on their business, making sure they SAT or ACT, making sure they do the right things to get through."
Jones said his goal is to turn his missteps into a cautionary tale for the children.
His idea is tell kids "Not to be a knucklehead, man, and listen to what people tell you, and surround yourself with good people. My situation, I didn't really have anyone to tell me, I never had a father figure, or someone I could listen to or someone I could trust and tell them about what I was going through.
"I don't want anyone to go through what I went through. I don't think anybody could through what I went through and just still be alright and not be in some mental institution or just give up, period, point-blank. It takes a lot of heart and a lot of courage and a lot of faith in God to go through what I went through."
He was then asked if he's concerned about kids looking up to him, and seeing the man who spent a good chunk of the last half-decade in legal hot water.
"I rather have them look up to me and say, 'I love Pac, I love what he does, but I don't want to go through some of the things he went through,'" Jones said. "It's just a learning thing for everyone. No one's perfect. I would never say I don't want a kid to look up to me as a role model.
"If you look up to someone else, and having been through what I've been through, and getting in situations I've been through, it'd be easy to give up, so that's how I feel about that situation."
Jones added that even with all the trouble he had in Tennessee, he did help out at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Nashville.
That's why he jumped at the chance that Bass gave him to help out, and why he plans to do more work like this going forward.
"I would love to, because I don't want to see any kid go through what I went through," Jones said. "Thank God that I had a strong, strong, strong head and a good relationship with God. That's the only way I got through."
Say this about The Cornerback Formerly Known as Pacman -- he is, at the very least, now saying all the right things.
Albert Breer E-mail News tips
All the troubles of Adam "Mister" Jones' past seemed distant yesterday at the Boys and Girls Club in Fort Worth.
The embattled cornerback smiled broadly, as he played with the kids at Brandon Bass' basketball camp. He went one-on-one with a particular talented youngster, wearing red socks, whom Timmy Tabloid was touting as a star for the high school Class of 2016. And more than anything, Mr. Jones seemed comfortable around the kids.
His goal in all this? "Just to talk to them and let them know they can get where we're at," he said. "I was in the same situation, as an inner-city kid, didn't have too when I grew up. Not saying I was hurting for a lot, but I was in public school, project housing. And just let them know it can happen as long as you stay on your job.
"Everybody who makes it to the NBA, NFL, in baseball, that doesn't mean they're the best talent-wise. It just shows you they stayed up on their business, making sure they SAT or ACT, making sure they do the right things to get through."
Jones said his goal is to turn his missteps into a cautionary tale for the children.
His idea is tell kids "Not to be a knucklehead, man, and listen to what people tell you, and surround yourself with good people. My situation, I didn't really have anyone to tell me, I never had a father figure, or someone I could listen to or someone I could trust and tell them about what I was going through.
"I don't want anyone to go through what I went through. I don't think anybody could through what I went through and just still be alright and not be in some mental institution or just give up, period, point-blank. It takes a lot of heart and a lot of courage and a lot of faith in God to go through what I went through."
He was then asked if he's concerned about kids looking up to him, and seeing the man who spent a good chunk of the last half-decade in legal hot water.
"I rather have them look up to me and say, 'I love Pac, I love what he does, but I don't want to go through some of the things he went through,'" Jones said. "It's just a learning thing for everyone. No one's perfect. I would never say I don't want a kid to look up to me as a role model.
"If you look up to someone else, and having been through what I've been through, and getting in situations I've been through, it'd be easy to give up, so that's how I feel about that situation."
Jones added that even with all the trouble he had in Tennessee, he did help out at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Nashville.
That's why he jumped at the chance that Bass gave him to help out, and why he plans to do more work like this going forward.
"I would love to, because I don't want to see any kid go through what I went through," Jones said. "Thank God that I had a strong, strong, strong head and a good relationship with God. That's the only way I got through."
Say this about The Cornerback Formerly Known as Pacman -- he is, at the very least, now saying all the right things.
