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When Pacman Jones Entered the NFL, Dallas Cowboys Took Him Off Their Draft Board

The news that the Dallas Cowboys are considering a trade with the Tennessee Titans for suspended cornerback Adam Pacman Jones is particularly interesting in light of the report from Marc Engel of the Star-Telegram that when Jones was coming out of college, the Cowboys were so skeptical of his ability to stay out of trouble that they took him off their draft board.

You might think that if the Cowboys didn't want any part of Jones in 2005, they really wouldn't want any part of him in 2008, seeing as he's been arrested multiple times since then, has introduced the phrase "making it rain" to the lexicon and is currently suspended by the NFL. But that apparenlty isn't the case.

The Cowboys seem to have changed their minds about Jones for two basic reasons. The first is that they have a much more easy-going coach than they did in 2005, when Bill Parcells was running the show -- Parcells says he won't tolerate thugs and hoodlums, but current coach Wade Phillips doesn't have Parcells' hard-nosed approach.

The second is that the Cowboys are in a different place than they were in 2005. That year they were coming off a 6-10 season and were trying to build a team from the ground up. Now they're coming off a 13-3 season and they're thinking they could be just one star player away from a Super Bowl. If Jones' talents as a cornerback and kick returner can be the difference, then the Cowboys will welcome him, no matter what they thought of him in 2005.

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