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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 1:31 p.m., Wednesday, January 7, 2009

NFL: Cowboys release troubled CB Pacman Jones

By JEFF CARLTON
Associated Press Writer

IRVING, Texas — Troubled cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones was released Wednesday by the Dallas Cowboys following a season in which he was suspended six games for an off-field fight.

The transaction will not become official until Feb. 9, the first day NFL teams can make waiver requests.

"He was surprised, and I think he was obviously somewhat hurt," said Worrick Robinson, Jones' agent. "At the same time, he understands the business behind what is happening here."

A Cowboys spokesman declined to comment on the team's decision and said owner Jerry Jones was unavailable.

Jones, expected to give the Cowboys a boost on defense and special teams, had no interceptions and averaged just 4.6 yards per punt return.

The Cowboys traded for Jones despite the cornerback's suspension for the 2007 season after multiple off-field incidents while with the Titans. He was given another chance and cleared to play in 2008 by commissioner Roger Goodell.

But on Oct. 7, Jones got into a scuffle with a bodyguard that was part of a team-employed security detail. A week later, Goodell suspended the cornerback indefinitely, which eventually turned into a six-week suspension. Jones missed a seventh game later in the season with an injury.

Jones spent part of his time away from football taking part in an alcohol rehabilitation program.

"He was a young man who needed the opportunity to be in treatment, and he got the treatment he needed," Robinson said. "He came out of there a better person and a healthier person because of that."

Robinson said he did not think Jones' suspension was a factor in the Cowboys' decision to release the cornerback.

"We don't have any reason to believe at this point that that off-the-field incident had anything to do with the team's decision today," Robinson said. "I know there was certainly a lot of bad that came out of that situation, but there was some good that came out of that situation as well.