The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense ) was an African-American organization established to promote Black Power and self-defense through acts of social agitation. It was active in the United States from the mid-1960s into the 1970s.

Founded in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale on October 15, 1966, the organization initially set forth a doctrine calling for the protection of African American neighborhoods from police brutality, in the interest of African-American justice.1 Its objectives and philosophy changed radically during the party's existence. While the organization's leaders passionately espoused socialist doctrine, the Party's black nationalist reputation attracted an ideologically erse membership.2 Ideological consensus within the party was difficult to achieve. Some members openly disagreed with the views of the leaders.

In 1967 the organization marched on the California State Capitol in Sacramento in protest of a ban on weapons. The official newspaper was also first circulated that year. By 1968, the party had expanded into many cities throughout the United States, including Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Newark, New York City, Seattle and Baltimore. That same year, membership reached 5,000, and their newspaper had grown to a circulation of 250,000.3

The group created a Ten-Point Program, a document that called for "Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace", as well as exemption from military service for African-American men, among other demands.4 While firmly grounded in black nationalism and begun as an organization that accepted only African Americans as members, the party changed as it grew to national prominence and became an icon of the counterculture of the 1960s.5 The Black Panthers ultimately condemned black nationalism as "black racism". They became more focused on socialism without racial exclusivity.6 They instituted a variety of community programs to alleviate poverty and improve health among communities deemed most needful of aid. While the party retained its all-black membership, it recognized that different minority communities (those it deemed oppressed by the American government) needed to organize around their own set of issues and encouraged alliances with such organizations.

The group's political goals were often overshadowed by their confrontational and militant tactics, and by their suspicions of law enforcement agents. The Black Panthers considered them as oppressors to be overcome by a willingness to take up armed self-defense.7 After party membership started to decline during Huey Newton's 1968 manslaughter trial, the Black Panther Party collapsed in the early 1970s. Writers such as Black Panther and Socialist Angela Davis and American writer and political activist Ward Churchill have alleged that law enforcement officials went to great lengths to discredit and destroy the organization, including assassination.8

In 1965, Huey P. Newton was released from jail. With his friend Bobby Seale from Oakland City College, he joined a black power group called the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM). RAM had a chapter in Oakland and followed the writings of Robert F. Williams. Originally from North Carolina, Williams published a newsletter called from China, where he fled to escape kidnapping charges. RAM was often seen as extremely violent. In 1965, three East Coast RAM members were charged with conspiring to destroy the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, and the Washington Monument through use of explosives.

The Oakland chapter consisted mainly of students, who were not interested in this extreme form of activism. Newton and Seale's attitudes were more militant. The pair left RAM searching for a group more meaningful to them. 9

They worked at the North Oakland Neighborhood Anti-Poverty Center, where they also served on the advisory board. To combat police brutality, the advisory board obtained 5,000 signatures in support of the City Council's setting up a police review board to review complaints. Newton was also taking classes at the City College and at San Francisco Law School. Both institutions were active in the North Oakland Center. Thus the pair had numerous connections with whom they talked about a new organization. Inspired by the success of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization and Stokely Carmichael's calls for separate black political organizations,10 they wrote their initial platform statement, the Ten-Point Program. With the help of Huey's brother Melvin, they decided on a uniform of blue shirts, black pants, black leather jackets, black berets, and openly displayed loaded shotguns.11

The Black Panther party rightfully believed in the notion that everybody, no matter their race, creed, or nationality could all get along.

Inspired by Mao Zedong's advice to revolutionaries in the , Newton called on the Panthers to "serve the people" and to make "survival programs" a priority within its branches. The most famous and successful of their programs was the Free Breakfast for Children Program, initially run out of an Oakland church.

Other survival programs were free services such as clothing distribution, classes on politics and economics, free medical clinics, lessons on self-defense and first aid, transportation to upstate prisons for family members of inmates, an emergency-response ambulance program, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and testing for sickle-cell disease.14

The Party briefly merged with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, headed by the fiery Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture). In 1967, the party organized a march on the California state capitol to protest the state's attempt to outlaw carrying loaded weapons in public. Participants in the march carried rifles. In 1968, BPP Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver ran for Presidential office on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. They were a big influence on the White Panther Party, that was tied to the Detroit/Ann Arbor rock band MC5 and their manager John Sinclair, author of the book that also promulgated a ten-point program.

As the Black Panther Party was beginning to gain a national presence, police began a crackdown on the party and their activities. Huey P. Newton was arrested for an alleged murder, which sparked a "free Huey" campaign, organized by Eldridge Cleaver to help Newton's legal defense. Newton was convicted, though his conviction was overturned in the 1970s.

In April 1968, the party was involved in a gun battle, where Bobby Hutton, a Panther, was killed. Cleaver later said that he had led the Panther group on a deliberate ambush of the police officers, thus provoking the shoot-out.15 In Chicago, two Panthers were killed in a police raid.3

One of the central aims of the BPP was to stop abuse by local police departments. When the party was founded in 1966, only 16 of Oakland's 661 police officers were African American.16 Accordingly, many members questioned the Department's objectivity and impartiality. This situation was not unique to Oakland, California. Most police departments in major cities did not have proportional membership by African Americans. Throughout the 1960s, race riots and civil unrest broke out in impoverished African-American communities subject to policing by disproportionately white police departments. The work and writings of Robert F. Williams, Monroe, North Carolina NAACP chapter president and author of , also influenced the BPP's tactics.

The BPP sought to oppose police brutality through neighborhood patrols (an approach since adopted by groups such as Copwatch). Police officers were often followed by armed Black Panthers who sought at times to aid African-Americans who were alleged victims of police brutality and perceived racial prejudice. Both Panthers and police died as a result of violent confrontations. By 1970, 34 Panthers had died as a result of police raids, shoot-outs and internal conflict.17 Various police organizations claim the Black Panthers were responsible for the deaths of at least 15 law enforcement officers and the injuries of dozens more. During those years, juries found several BPP members guilty of violent crimes.18

From 1966 to 1972, when the party was most active, several departments hired significantly more African-American police officers. Some of these black officers played prominent roles in shutting down the Panthers' activities. In Chicago in 1969 for example, Panthers Mark Clark and Fred Hampton were both killed in a police raid (In which five of the officers present were African American) by Sergeant James Davis, an African American officer. In cities such as New York City, black police officers were used to infiltrate Panther meetings. By 1972, almost every major police department was fully integrated.

Prominent member H. Rap Brown is serving life imprisonment for the 2000 murder of Ricky Leon Kinchen, a Fulton County, Georgia sheriff's deputy, and the wounding of another officer in a gunbattle. Both officers were black.19

In August 1967, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instructed its program "COINTELPRO" to "neutralize" what the FBI called "Black Nationalist Hate Groups" and other dissident groups. In September of 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Black Panthers as, "The greatest threat to the internal security of the country."20 By 1969, the Black Panthers were the primary target of COINTELPRO. They were the target of 233 of the 295 authorized "Black Nationalist" COINTELPRO actions. The goals of the program were to prevent the unification of militant Black Nationalist groups and to weaken the power of their leaders, as well as to discredit the groups to reduce their support and growth. The initial targets included the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Revolutionary Action Movement and the Nation of Islam. Leaders who were targeted included the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Maxwell Stanford and Elijah Muhammad.

Although COINTELPRO was commissioned ostensibly to prevent violence, it used some tactics to foster violence. For instance, the FBI tried to "intensify the degree of animosity" between the Black Panthers and the Blackstone Rangers, a Chicago gang. They sent an anonymous letter to the Ranger’s gang leader claiming that the Panthers were threatening his life, a letter whose intent was to induce "reprisals" against Panther leadership. In Southern California similar actions were taken to exacerbate a "gang war" between the Black Panther Party and a group called the US Organization. Violent conflict between these two groups, including shootings and beatings, led to the deaths of at least four Black Panther Party members. FBI agents claimed credit for instigating some of the violence between the two groups. 21

On January 17, 1969, Los Angeles Panther Captain Bunchy Carter and Deputy Minister John Huggins were killed in Campbell Hall on the UCLA campus, in a gun battle with members of US Organization stemming from a dispute over who would control UCLA's black studies program. Another shootout between the two groups on March 17 led to further injuries. It was alleged that the FBI had sent a provocative letter to US Organization in an attempt to create antagonism between US and the Panthers. 22

One of the most notorious actions was a Chicago Police raid of the home of Panther organizer Fred Hampton on December 4, 1969. The raid had been orchestrated by the police in conjunction with the FBI. The FBI was complicit in many of the actions. The people inside the home had been drugged by an FBI informant, William O'Neal, and were asleep at the time of the raid. Hampton was shot and killed, as was the guard, Mark Clark. The others were dragged into the street, beaten, and subsequently charged with assault. These charges were later dropped. The Chicago Police and FBI were never investigated or charged for their role in the event. 23

In May 1969, party members tortured and murdered Alex Rackley, a 19-year-old member of the New York chapter of the Black Panther party, because they suspected him of being a police informant. Three party officers — Warren Kimbro, George Sams, Jr., and Lonnie McLucas — later admitted taking part. Sams, who gave the order to shoot Rackley at the murder scene, turned state's evidence and testified that he had received orders personally from Bobby Seale to carry out the execution. After this betrayal, party supporters alleged that Sams was himself the informant and an agent provocateur employed by the FBI.24 The case resulted in the New Haven, Connecticut Black Panther trials of 1970. The trial ended with a hung jury, and the prosecution chose not to seek another trial.

Awareness of the group continued to grow, especially after the May 2 1967 protest at the California State Assembly and the arrest of Newton in Fall of 1967. On February 17, 1968, a large rally was held for Huey in the Oakland Auditorium. The speakers included Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, and James Forman. After this event, membership grew rapidly. The structure of the group became more defined. New members had to attend a six-week training program and political education classes (largely based on Mao's ). 25

In 1968, the group shortened its name to the Black Panther Party and sought to focus directly on political action. Members were told not to carry guns. An influx of college students joined the group, which had consisted chiefly of "brothers off the block." This created some tension in the group. Some members were more interested in supporting the Panther's social programs, while others wanted to maintain their "street mentality". For many Panthers, the group was little more than a type of gang. 26

Panther slogans and iconography spread. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two American medalists, gave the black power salute during the playing of the American national anthem. The International Olympic Committee banned them from the Olympic Games for life. Some Hollywood celebrities, such as Jane Fonda, became involved in their leftist program. She publicly supported Huey Newton and the Black Panthers in the early 1970s. The Black Panthers attracted a wide variety of left-wing revolutionaries and political activists, including former editor David Horowitz and left-wing lawyer Charles R. Garry, who often acted as their counsel. Survival Committees and coalitions were organized with several groups across the United States. Chief among these in Chicago was the first Rainbow Coalition formed by Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers which included Young Patriots and Young Lords.

From the beginning the Black Panther Party's focus on militancy came with a reputation for violence. They often took advantage of a California law which permitted carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun as long as it was publicly displayed and pointed at no one 27. Carrying weapons openly and making threats against police officers, for example, chants like "The Revolution has co-ome, it's time to pick up the gu-un. Off the pigs!",28 helped create the Panthers' reputation as a violent organization. The greater part of the reputation was earned in particular incidents such as the following.

In October 1967, Oakland police officer John Frey was shot to death in an altercation with Newton during a traffic stop. In the stop, Newton and backup officer Herbert Heanes also suffered gunshot wounds. Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter at trial. This incident gained the party even wider recognition by the radical American left, and a "Free Huey" campaign ensued29. Newton was released after three years, when his conviction was reversed on appeal.

On May 2, 1967, the California State Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure was scheduled to convene to discuss what was known as the "Mulford Act", which would ban public displays of loaded firearms. Cleaver and Newton put together a plan to send a group of about 30 Panthers led by Seale from Oakland to Sacramento to protest the bill. The group entered the assembly carrying their weapons, an incident which was widely publicized, and which prompted police to arrest Seale and five others. The group pled guilty to misdemeanor charges of disrupting a legislative session30.

On April 7, 1968, Panther Bobby Hutton, who held the title Minister of Defense, was killed, and Cleaver was wounded in a shootout with the Oakland police. Each side called the event an ambush by the other. Two policemen were shot in the incident31.

Among radical leftist organizations, the Panthers' reputation for violence was likely rivaled only by the Weathermen. Hugh Pearson stated, "the Left appeared to view the Panthers as gladiators, cheering them on as they got themselves killed"32.

From the fall of 1967 through the end of 1969, nine police officers were killed and 56 were wounded in confrontations with the Panthers. The confrontations were believed to have resulted in ten Panther deaths and an unknown number of injuries. In 1969 alone, 348 Panthers were arrested for a variety of crimes 33.

When Panther Betty Van Patter was murdered in 1974, David Horowitz became certain that Black Panther members were responsible and he denounced the Panthers. When Huey Newton was shot to death 15 years later, Horowitz characterized Newton as a killer.34 When a former colleague at alleged that Horowitz himself was responsible for the death of van Patter by recommending her for the position of BP accountant, Horowitz counter-alleged that "the Panthers had killed more than a dozen people in the course of conducting extortion, prostitution and drug rackets in the Oakland ghetto". He said further that the organization was committed "to doctrines that are false and to causes that are demonstrably wrongheaded and even evil."35

While part of the organization was already participating in local government and social services, another group was in constant conflict with the police. For some of the Party's supporters, the separation between political action, criminal activity, social services, access to power, and grass-roots identity became confusing and contradictory as the Panthers' political momentum was bogged down in the criminal justice system. A significant split in the Party occurred over disagreements among its leaders over how to confront these challenges. Some Panther leaders, such as Huey Newton and David Hilliard, favored a focus on community service coupled with self-defense; others, such as Eldridge Cleaver, embraced a more confrontational strategy. A schism was made inevitable when Cleaver publicly criticized the Party as adopting a "reformist" rather than "revolutionary" agenda and called for Hilliard's removal. Cleaver was expelled from the Central Committee but went on to lead a splinter group, the Black Liberation Army, which had previously existed as an underground paramilitary wing of the Party.36

The Party eventually fell apart due to rising legal costs and internal disputes. Its final leader was Elaine Brown, a longtime Panther and the first and last woman to lead it where she addressed issues of sexism within the party and attempted to stave off its disintegration.

The National Alliance of Black Panthers was formed on July 31, 2004. It was inspired by the grassroots activism of the original organization but not otherwise related. Its chairwoman is Shazza Nzingha.

In October 2006, the Black Panther Party held a 40-year reunion in Oakland, California. 37

In January 2007, a joint California state and Federal task force charged eight men with the 1971 murder of a California police officer.38 The defendants have been identified as former members of the Black Liberation Army. Two have been linked to the Black Panthers.39 In 1975 a similar case was dismissed when a judge ruled that police gathered evidence through the use of torture.40

In 1989, a group calling itself the "New Black Panther Party" was formed in Dallas, Texas. Ten years later, the NBPP became home to many former Nation of Islam members when the chairmanship was taken by Khalid Abdul Muhammad.

The Anti-Defamation League has identified the New Black Panthers as a hate group. Members of the original Black Panther Party have insisted that this New Black Panther Party is illegitimate and have strongly objected that there "is no new Black Panther Party".41

• Austin, Curtis J. (2006). . University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-827-5
• Brown, Elaine. (1993). . Anchor Books. ISBN 0-679-41944-6
• Dooley, Brian. (1998). . Pluto Press.
• Forbes, Flores A. (2006). . Atria Books. ISBN 0-7434-8266-2
• Hilliard, David, and Cole, Lewis. (1993). . Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 0-316-36421-5
• Hughey, Matthew W. (forthcoming 2009). “Black Aesthetics and Panther Rhetoric – A Critical Decoding of Black Masculinity in The Black Panther, 1967-1980.” .
• Hughey, Matthew W. (2007). “The Pedagogy of Huey P. Newton: Critical Reflections on Education in his Writings and Speeches.” , 38(2): 209-231.
• Hughey, Matthew W. (2005).“The Sociology, Pedagogy, and Theology of Huey P. Newton: Toward a Radical Democratic Utopia.” , 29(3): 639-655.
• Joseph, Peniel E. (2006). . Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-7539-9
• Lewis, John. (1998). . Simon and Schuster, p. 353. ISBN 0-684-81065-4
• Ogbar, Jeffrey O. G. (2004). . The Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Pearson, Hugh. (1994) De Capo Pres. ISBN 0201483416
• Shames, Stephen. "The Black Panthers," Aperture, 2006. A photographic essay of the organization, allegedly suppressed due to Spiro Agnew's intervention in 1970.

• Black Panther Party official website
• Children of the Revolutionary LA Weekly feature on the 1969 UCLA shootout that killed John Huggins and Bunchy Carter.

• It's About Time: Black Panther Party Legacy & Alumni
  • BPP Ten Point Platform & Program from circa 1966
• UC Berkeley Social Activism Online Sound Recordings: The Black Panther Party
• The Black Panther Party's Struggle for Social Change
• The Bobby Seale Homepage
• The Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation
• Marxists Internet Archive: The Black Panther Party
  • 10-point program of the Black Panther Party
• Assata Speaks!
• Hartford Web Publishing collection of BPP documents
• Libcom.org/history: The Black Panther Party for Self Defence
• Maoist Internationalist Movement: Black Panther Newspaper Collection
• "Enslaved by Dogma" Brief analysis of COINTELPRO launched against Black Panthers
• Mark Clark Memorial
• National Young Lords
• Mark Clark Legacy MySpace Edition
• Remember Mark Clark

• Aaron Dixon speaks Hour-long talk by co-founder of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party. Recorded February 11, 2006 by KUOW-FM, first broadcast February 15, 2006. Recording is RealAudio.
• March 21, 2001 broadcast on . Available via streaming Real Audio. Retrieved March 13, 2006.
• All Power to the People - a documentary about the Black Power movement in the US. View the documentary here.
• By Jordan Green Yes! Weekly. Greensboro NC. Published April 11, 2006. Retrieved April 14, 2006.
• Seattle Black Panther Party History

• Stern, Sol. from , 27 May 2003. Retrieved March 13, 2006.
• , a book by Tom Wolfe describing the courting of the Black Panthers by New York's social elite. Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1970.

Adam Bernard Jones (born September 30, 1983), is an American football cornerback and return specialist on the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League and a retired professional wrestler with the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans sixth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at West Virginia. Adam Jones won the TNA World Tag Team Championship with Ron Killings after beating the tag team of Sting and Kurt Angle at No Surrender.

Jones was suspended from the NFL for the entire 2007 season for off-the-field conduct.1 During his suspension Jones signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), despite an agreement between TNA and the Titans organization that he would only have a "non-physical" role in the company.2 He also established a record label, "National Street League Records," and performed as one half of the Posterboyz rap duo.3

Growing up Adam Jones was a wrestler for Westlake High School. He was on the freshman team for one year and was on varsity for three years. Jones attended Westlake High School, in Atlanta, Georgia. In football, Jones played in the Georgia-Florida all-star game, and was selected as the conference "Player of the Year" following his senior year after totaling 120 tackles, six interceptions and 1,850 rushing yards. In addition to his accomplishments in football, Jones also earned All-American honors in basketball and track. His basketball team won two state-championships. Jones' high school totaled the most players in the NFL from one high school in 2005 with six players.4 When Jones was four years old, his father was shot and killed. Jones was raised by his mother, Deborah Jones, and his grandmother, Cristine Jones, for most of his life. When Jones was a freshman at West Virginia University, his grandmother died of cancer. Jones missed a game to attend the funeral, the only game he missed in his three-year collegiate career. On the day of the NFL Draft, Jones wore a t-shirt that featured his grandmother's picture.

Jones also was an Athletic Coaching Education major and a member of the Athletic Director's Academic Honor Roll. As a freshman in 2002, Jones appeared in 11 games for West Virginia as a reserve cornerback and safety. He totaled one interception and one forced fumble with 36 tackles. During 2003, he appeared in all 13 games, starting 9 at cornerback, and taking over full-time kick return and punt return duties. Jones' second season resulted in a second team All-Big East Conference selection with his career-high 89 tackles and four interceptions, one being for a touchdown. He also had six tackles for losses, one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He also had a career-high 12 broken up passes that season as well. In one of his best games of the year, against Boston College, Jones scored two touchdowns in a 35-28 win over the Eagles, one a 87-yard kick return and the other a 47-yard interception return. Jones also had a career-high 12 tackles against Miami. Jones totaled 98 punt return yards on 16 punt returns and 867 kick return yards, including an 87-yard touchdown return.

As a junior in 2004, he was the defensive secondary captain and led the team in tackles and interceptions. Jones also played briefly on offense, as well as returning punts and kick-offs for the second season. He was named first-team all-Big East as a defensive back and honorable mention All-American by several sources. He led the team with 76 tackles, also adding two sacks, three interceptions, and seven broken up passes. Jones was named to Collegefootballnews.com's All-American first-team and was named honorable mention All-American at kick returner. Jones was also named Big East Special Teams Player of the Year. His 76-yard punt return against East Carolina was his season-long return and only punt return for a touchdown in Jones' career. He even had a long touchdown run against UConn that was called back due to a penalty. Jones ended his career with a bad mark though, in the 2005 Gator Bowl, when he fumbled a kick return early in the game; the Mountaineers lost to Florida State.

Jones is ranked second on West Virginia's career kickoff return yardage list with 1,475 yards. He is also ranked eleventh on the school's career punt return yardage list with 404 yards, while his 10.92 yards per punt return is the sixth most in school history. Jones is one of the highest West Virginia players drafted as well, second to Hall of Famer Sam Huff who was drafted third overall. Jones and fellow-Mountaineer great Major Harris also shared the number #9 while playing in college.

After his junior year, Jones opted to forgo his senior year and declare eligible for the NFL Draft. He was the first defensive player drafted, taken sixth overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2005 NFL Draft. He then missed most of training camp, holding out in a contract dispute. After Jones had signed with the Titans, he donated money to the 100 Club, a charity that financially supports the families of firefighters, police, and emergency workers. Also in 2005, Jones traveled to Pearl Cohn High School in Nashville, Tennessee to help the school after one of its football players died in a car crash that also injured others on the team. Jones reached out to them during the season, making at least two trips to encourage the team. Additionally, Jones donated money so Nashville firefighters and police officers could get new uniforms.

During his rookie season, he had a total of 44 tackles and 10 pass deflections, but no interceptions. On special teams, Jones totaled 1,399 return yards and one TD. Jones and Reynaldo Hill made up the only rookie duo to start at least ten games each at cornerback in the NFL. Many Tennessee fans felt that Jones was a disappointing pick, compared to the performance of the Titans' seventh-round pick, Reynaldo Hill, who had two interceptions with 39 tackles.

At the end of his sophomore season, Jones totaled career-high 62 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, 12 deflected passes, 4 interceptions, 130 return yards, one interception touchdown, 14 passes defended (second-team), 440 punt return yards and tied for NFL-high with three punt return touchdowns. The three punt returns also tied the franchise record with Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, which was set in 1975. His 12.9 yards per punt return average led the NFL, edging out Chicago's Devin Hester by a tenth of a yard, while his 26.1 yards per kick return average ranked him seventh in the league and sixth in the AFC. Jones also caught two passes on offense for 31 yards (one for 17 yards) and rushed twice for 8 yards. His best performance came against the Jacksonville Jaguars in week 15, when Jones had an 83-yard interception return for a score, a 70-yard kick return, and broke up a touchdown pass to Matt Jones to save the game. Jones broke out in his fifth game of the season against the Indianapolis Colts, when he recorded a then personal season-high five tackles and defended a pass in the 14-13 loss. The very next week against the Washington Redskins, Jones recorded four tackles and stripped the ball from Antwaan Randle El for his first forced fumble of his career. The next week against Houston, Jones tied a career-high tackle total with eight, and picked off a Sage Rosenfels pass for his first career interception, and also posted his second touchdown on a punt return in his career in the fourth quarter with a 53-yard return. Two weeks later, against the Eagles, Jones recorded his second punt return for a score of the season, this one 90-yards, breaking Billy Johnson's 87-yard franchise record. The next week against the New York Giants, Jones picked off an Eli Manning pass in the fourth quarter that sparked the Titans' 21-point comeback. Against the New England Patriots in the last game of the season, Jones totaled 259 return yards (the NFL's highest total since 2006) along with a punt return score.

Near the 2007 NFL Draft, Jones's off-field issues (one revealed instance involved in a fist fight and a shooting in a Las Vegas strip club that paralyzed manager Tommy Urbanski) led many to believe that the Titans would cut or trade Jones before his third season in the league. On April 10, 2007, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced a one-year suspension for Jones, to be re-evaluated after the tenth regular-season game, pending disposition of current cases, which Jones appealed.56 Jones took out a full ad in , promising "he'll win back trust" of his teammates and fans." "To my family, teammates, coaches and fans, I recognize that I have lost the right to ask for your patience and understanding," Jones wrote. "However, I will do everything in my power to regain your trust and respect." Jones also wrote in the letter, his plans to re-enroll and finish his degree at West Virginia University. "The basis of the appeal … will be to clarify some of the facts and address the unprecedented punishment that was imposed," Jones wrote in the letter. However on June 12, Jones withdrew his appeal.

On November 5, 2007, it was reported that Jones would not be allowed to be reinstated during the 2007 season after meeting with Roger Goodell. Tennessee running back LenDale White told that he thinks that "53 of 53" Titans' players would want Jones to return to the team. Quarterback Vince Young said, "We are going to do well without him, we can do well with him...".7 On December 13, 2007, the NFL agreed to hear the player's union's appeal on Jones's behalf. The player's union appealed Roger Goodell's decision to not allow Jones to be reinstated during the 2007 season.8

On February 1, 2008, ESPN reported that that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell remained "disappointed" in Jones and that he would most likely not be reinstated after the Super Bowl. The NFL was to review Jones after the 2008 Pro Bowl.9 It was also reported that the Titans would try to trade Jones, if reinstated.10

On March 8, 2008, Jones announced on a Tennessee radio station that he felt he was in "tip-top shape" and was ready to be reinstated. His agent has also announced that they will consider applying for reinstatement before the 2008 NFL Draft. Jones also said on the radio show that he would like to play for the Dallas Cowboys, if the Titans were looking to trade him.11 The Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints also expressed interest in Jones. On March 30, Jones participated at a charity basketball event, where he then signed a football for a fan with the #21, later saying that he believes he would wear the number if he ended up in Dallas with the Cowboys.12 NFL Network correspondent, Adam Schefter, had also described the Tennessee-Dallas trade for Jones as being "imminent".13 On April 1, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that he would have a decision on reinstating Jones prior to training camp, presumably in July.14 However, the next day, reports said that the trade is being delayed due to the Cowboys denying the request to provide a fourth-round pick and a pick in the 2009 NFL Draft. Also, disagreements let out over whether the Cowboys would reimburse the Titans for a bonus owed to Jones.15 However, Adam Schefter of NFL Network reported on April 13 that trade talks had restarted, with the Cowboys offering a sixth-round pick and the Titans requesting a fourth-round pick in the 2008 draft.16 Jones will wait to apply for reinstatement to the NFL. Jones is apparently waiting for his trade to the Cowboys to happen, he told the media on the Michael Irvin radio show.17

On April 23, 2008, ESPN reported that Jones had been traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. The story cited anonymous sources and that neither team has verified the claim.

The story says conditions are attached to the trade. If Jones is reinstated for the 2008-2009 season, the Cowboys will also give their sixth-round pick to Tennessee in 2009; if not, the Titans will have to send their fourth-round pick to the Cowboys in 2009. Furthermore, If Jones was to be suspended again, the Titans would have to give their fifth-round pick to the Cowboys in 2009. Although the conditions clearly appear to favor the Cowboys, the Titans organization made it clear that it would do whatever was needed to get him far away from their team.

According to ESPN, Jones also has reached a financial settlement with the Titans regarding his contract situation. Jones also must pay $500,000 to a charity chosen by the Titans sometime in the next two years. He will receive a new contract from the Cowboys.18

On April 24, Hall of Famer Jim Brown announced that he had offered his support and help to Jones while in Dallas. Former Cowboys teammates and NFL standouts Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders have also both expressed a willingness to help the troubled cornerback.

After being traded to the Cowboys, Jones signed a four-year contract that included no signing bonus. Also included are annual roster bonuses. This protects Dallas against Jones making any more off-field mistakes.

On June 2, Commissioner Roger Goodell notified Jones that, effective immediately, he could participate in organized team activities with the Cowboys, including training camp and preseason games. On August 26, Jones was fully reinstated for the 2008 NFL season.19

In the season opener for the Cowboys, a 28-10 victory against the Cleveland Browns, Jones recorded a tackle and a pass deflection. In the following 41-37 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles, Jones recorded four tackles and a pass deflection. In a 27-16 victory over the Green Bay Packers, Jones led the Cowboys with eight tackles and a fumble recovery.

On October 8, Jones was involved in an altercation with his bodyguard in a Dallas hotel. According to ESPN, a police report was not filed and Jones' bodyguard opted not to press charges. The Dallas Cowboys and a spokesman for the NFL had no comment on the situation. In an ironic twist, Commissioner Goodell had stopped by the Cowboys practice facility early the following day as part of a routine visit to check up on the players. At the time of his visit, Goodell was unaware of the incident and only learned about it later that day.

On October 14, 2008, Jones was suspended for a minimum of four games by the NFL due to the altercation, his latest in a long line of violations of the NFL Personal Conduct Policy.20 After his latest transgression off the field it was announced on October 16th that Jones would enter an alcohol rehab center.21

On July 30, 2007, it was reported that Jones was working on a deal with the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA).22 As the news circulated, Titan's coach Jeff Fisher stated that his football contract could preclude him from actually wrestling with the company,23 but negotiations continued for a non wrestling role.24 On August 6, TNA confirmed through their website that a deal had been signed,25 and afterwards interviews with Jones and Jeff Jarrett, one of TNA's Vice Presidents, indicated that he did intend to wrestle, primarily as part of a tag team.2627

After some legal wrangling, it was agreed that Jones could appear for the company, but in a non-physical role only. During his time there, he was placed into a tag team known as Team Pacman with Ron "the Truth" Killings and held the TNA World Tag Team Championship by defeating Sting, and the TNA X-Division, Tag Team, and World Heavyweight Champion, Kurt Angle. Since he was not allowed to appear in the ring, eventually a third man—Rasheed Lucius "Consequences" Creed—was added to the group.

His contract expired on October 15 and TNA chose not to renew it.28

Also during his suspended season, Jones announced that he would be collaborating on a hip hop album.29 After the announcement was made an NFL spokesman let it be known that the NFL was looking into whether the name of Jones' record label, National Street League Records, infringed on the National Football League trademark.3 Jones' group, Posterboyz, released their first single, "Let it Shine", through a MySpace page.30

On July 14, 2005 Jones was arrested on charges of assault and felony vandalism stemming from a nightclub altercation. On September 5, 2005, Jones was a guest at the annual Nashville Sports Council Kickoff Luncheon. After a loud verbal tantrum in which he was told to wait in line for his vehicle later that evening, Jones was counseled by the police. He also refused to pay for any valet services used that evening, because he didn't have money at the time. In October 2005, in a petition filed by the State of West Virginia, it was alleged that Jones had not made regular and sufficient contact with his probation officer and that he did not report his July arrest in Nashville in a timely fashion. The court ordered the probation extended for a period of 90 days, although the state requested it to be extended one year.

On August 25, 2006, Jones was arrested in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for disorderly conduct and public intoxication after claiming that a woman stole his wallet. She claimed that she did not steal anything and Jones spat on her. Police officers said they ordered Jones to leave several times, but he refused, continuing to shout profanities at the woman. A judge granted him six months probation on the conditions that he stays out of further trouble and away from the nightclub.31 On October 26, 2006. Jones was cited for misdemeanor assault for allegedly spitting in the face of a female student from Tennessee State University during a private party at Club Mystic, a Nashville nightclub. He was suspended by the Titans for one game and was scheduled to be booked on the charge on November 17, 2006.

Jones also is set to appear in a Fayetteville, Georgia court in 2007 for his February 2006 incident on subpoenas for felony and misdemeanor obstruction of justice charges for an incident outside a home. The charges of marijuana possession in the same state were dismissed.32

On June 18, 2007, Jones was sought by police for questioning after a shooting at an Atlanta strip club allegedly involved members of his entourage. According to police at the scene, Jones was not present during the shooting, and is not being charged.33

On May 7, 2007, Jones was stopped at 12:45 a.m. on Interstate 65 heading into downtown after an officer clocked him on radar at 79 mph in a 55 mph zone.

On the morning of February 19, 2007, during the 2007 NBA All-Star Game weekend in Las Vegas, Jones is alleged to have been involved in an altercation with an exotic dancer at Minxx, a local strip club. Jones and American rap artist Nelly patronized the club on the evening in question. Nelly, along with someone known only as Richard Rich, began to shower the stage with hundreds of one-dollar bills; an act known as "making it rain." Jones then joined Nelly by throwing his own money for "visual effect." Club promoter Chris Mitchell then directed his dancers to collect the money. According to the club's co-owner, Jones became enraged when one of the dancers began taking the money without his permission. He allegedly grabbed her by her hair and slammed her head on the stage. A security guard intervened and scuffled with members of Jones' entourage of half a dozen people. Jones then allegedly threatened the guard's life.34 During this time, Mitchell and a male associate left the club with a garbage bag filled with $81,020 of Jones' money and two Breitling watches, which police later recovered.35

After club patrons left following the original confrontation, the club owner claimed a person in Jones' entourage returned with a gun and fired into a crowd, hitting three people, including the security guard involved in the earlier skirmish. The guard was shot twice, and one of the people hit--former professional wrestler Tommy Urbanski--was paralyzed from the waist down. Jones maintains that he did not know the shooter, although the club's owner insists that Jones did. On March 26, 2007, the Las Vegas Police recommended to the city's district attorney that Jones be charged with one count of felony coercion as well as one misdemeanor count of battery and one misdemeanor count of threat to life.36

More trouble followed Jones after the altercation, when drug dealer Darryl Moore reported to the police, after being busted during a deal, about his phone conversations with Jones. "We gotta slow down, man. We gotta get him focused on football, man." Moore is alleged to have said. Wiretapped phone conversations between Moore and his friends revealed Moore talking about how Jones bet on college games to earn quick money. "You know, I was talkin' to him the other day about smokin', and he was like 'man, if I didn't smoke I couldn't take all the stress that I'm dealing with right now,'" Moore said.37 Jones has not been connected to the Moore drug arrests or convicted for the Vegas stripper incident.

On June 20, 2007, the Las Vegas Police and Clark County District Attorney's office announced that Jones would face two felony charges stemming from the strip club melee.38 But on November 13, 2007, Jones accepted a plea deal;39 on Dec. 6, Jones pleaded no contest to one charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. He was given a suspended prison sentence of one year, probation, and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.40

On June 25, 2007, Tommy Urbanski and his wife Kathy sued Jones in civil court, claiming that Jones had bitten his left ankle, and was responsible for the shooting.41 The lawsuit also named the Tennessee Titans franchise and the NFL as defendants, on the grounds that Jones' employers knew of his erratic behavior prior to the Minxx incident, but did not suspend him until afterwards. Had the Titans suspended Jones prior to the NBA All-Star game, the suit argues, he would not have been invited to the Las Vegas events, and the incident would not have taken place.42

On April 21, a document revealed that Jones paid $15,000 extortion money to various people after the Las Vegas shooting.43

On April 3, 2007, Jones met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss his future. On April 10, the NFL announced that Jones would be suspended for the entire 2007 season, a suspension not assessed a player in 44 years (for reasons other than substance abuse) since Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were each suspended for one season for gambling. Jones would not be paid during the suspension and that it would be subject to additional review after the tenth regular season game, pending disposition of pending charges. His suspension also came with a stern warning that future misconduct might result in the end of his NFL career.

In anticipation of Jones' suspension, Nick Harper was signed as an unrestricted free agent by the Titans. The Titans could have sought repayment of the approximately $1.9 million in signing bonus money due Jones in 2007. The suspension carried no guarantee of reinstatement after it has been completed.

On April 14, Jones announced that he would appeal the suspension set by Goodell. However, since Goodell also heard appeals, the chances of winning any reduction in the suspension were extremely slim. Jones later dropped his appeal on June 12.

On August 13, 2007, regarding the February Las Vegas strip club incident, Jones told Bryant Gumbel of HBO Sports' that he was innocent and had never hit the stripper or told anyone he was going to kill them. When asked about friend and convicted drug dealer Darryl Moore, Jones said that he didn't know Moore was a drug dealer and felt surprised and betrayed. Jones also said he didn't think he got a fair say in his April meeting with Goodell.44

After ten games in the 2007 season, Roger Goodell reviewed his decision, but ultimately declined to reduce it in any way. Following this announcement, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) said that it would appeal Jones' suspension.45

On January 15, 2008, Jones was accused of hitting a woman in a strip club in Atlanta, Georgia on the morning of January 3. The woman, Wanda S. Jackson, was seeking an arrest warrant.46 However, on January 16, Jackson withdrew the warrant.

On June 21, 2008, the Associated Press reported Jones' $1.5 million home was in foreclosure. The home and 30 acres, located in a Nashville suburb, was to be sold June 27 on the steps of the old Williamson County Courthouse.47

On August 28, 2008, sources indicated that Jones was to be fully reinstated by Goodell.48 However, on October 13, Goodell suspended Adam "Pacman" Jones indefinitely for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Jones was involved in an alcohol-related scuffle with one of his bodyguards at a private party in Dallas on Oct. 7. The league said the Dallas Cowboys cornerback will miss the next four games, and Goodell will determine the final length of the suspension after the Cowboys' game in Washington on November 16. In a letter to Jones, Goodell called the latest incident the continuation of "a disturbing pattern of behavior and clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL."

His nickname "Pacman" is used much more often than his true first name, Adam, including by broadcasters and official websites connected to the NFL. It was even represented by a "P" on the back of his Titans jersey.

He has had the nickname all his life; his mother gave it to him when he was a young child, saying that he would drink his milk as fast as the video game character Pac-Man. In June 2008, Jones decided that he now only wants to be known as "Adam Jones" or "Mr. Jones," in an attempt to separate himself from his troubled past.49 Following Jones' suspension in October, 2008, ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, in the "Parting Shots" segment of , chided Jones for setting a bad example for youth, and made a point of calling him "Pac-Man" several times.

DEFENSE

RETURNS

• National Football League player conduct controversy

• Tennessee Titans bio
• Pacman Jones at the Internet Movie Database
• Adam "Pacman" Jones News