Pacman Jones admits to immaturity; grass admits to being green

Adam "Pacman" Jones returned to the playing field on Sunday after missing more than a calendar year of football with a serious neck injury. He showed up, flashed some of the brilliance that's always been there, and then had to leave the game with a hamstring injury.

He vows to heal quickly, though, as he and his Cincinnati Bengals visit Nashville this weekend, where Pacman started his NFL career and took his criminal career to another level. If you have a few hours, I'd point you in this direction for a recap of Pacman's Nashville rap sheet, but the Nashville chapter of the Pacman story ends with him being traded to Dallas after being suspended for a year by commissioner Roger Goodell.

These days, though, Pacman is older and (possibly) wiser, and agreed to a conversation with Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean in advance of his trip back to where everything started. A couple of snippets:

On taking responsibility for things going wrong with the Titans:

"It would have never worked for me in Tennessee," Jones said. "I was 21 or 22, and I didn't understand what I understand now. I was out every night enjoying myself. I wasn't really focusing on football. I had a lot of distractions. I take responsibly for everything that went on back then, and have learned from it.

"Yeah, I did (mess) things up off the field. I blame myself for that. But I will say when times got hard, (the Titans) weren't there for me. But I ain't holding no grudges, man. Life is too short for grudges. I don't have time for all of that."

On how he changed this life:

"Of course it was a process. When you have been living a certain way since you were 13 years old, you grew up fighting. It takes time. That (expletive) just don't happen overnight. You have to go through things, and as you get older you see your future. There was a point when it hit me; I had to take this for real. This could be taken away from me as quick as it was given to me. But it wasn't one particular thing. It was all of it. And my little girl (Triniti)."

There's a lot more from Wyatt's interview here. It's worth a few minutes of your Tuesday.

I'm happy that Jones feels like he's matured and that he can focus on his family and football now, but at the same time, he's never getting the benefit of the doubt again. He's burned up about 482 second chances. No one could be blamed if they still had their doubts about Pacman.

I just hope that what he's saying is, and remains, true -- that he's found peace, matured and is now in a position to play good football and be a good man. It's hard to believe that he's still 28 years old. Part II of the Pacman Jones story is still all in front of him.

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