We nearly got an All Pro flake in the CFL when Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones wanted to bring his circus act north of the border.
The whole thing fell apart when Pacman couldn’t come to an agreement on the CFL’s definition of a shootout which strictly forbids the use of Glocks.
There was an interesting reaction here in Canada as the story unfolded across North America and millions of Canadians felt validated because this thug ran out of options and had to look north for work.
In the end, his track record was so shaky that even our generous immigration policy disallowed him entry into Canada.
But it was fun while it lasted.
This guy wasn’t even sure which league he was supposed to join and mixed up the CFL with a new football league called the UFL, which should be around for roughly 35 seconds.
Pacman managed to put together an incoherent and rambling video in which he promised to dominate our league with at least two touchdowns per game— when he could remember our league’s name.
The football forums lit up with the news that Pacman was on his way to our league and, for some of these clowns, this was a validation of the CFL for them.
These guys really drink the grape Kool Aid about the NFL and the arrival of Pacman was the arrival of Superman among mere mortals.
There was only one reason that I wanted to see this clown play in the CFL and that was to prove the level of talent is very high in our league.
Pacman would have found that a lot of CFL players would have loved to annihilate him on his quest for a pair of touchdowns per game.
We have seen the arrival of banished NFL players many times over the years, including Ricky Williams in Toronto a couple of years ago.
Many people who would be solid, weak-willed cult candidates believed that Williams would be an unstoppable force in an inferior league.
They were strangely quiet when Williams proved to be a little slow for the speed of our game.
The talent level was a surprise to Williams, who was very gracious about the CFL upon his return to the NFL.
NFL refugees have arrived over the years with mixed results.
Two of the most famous were Mark Gastineau and Dexter Manley, who had dominated as All Pro D-linemen in the NFL.
To be fair, they arrived past their shelf life and shortly before poor lifestyle choices got them jail sentences, but any NFL groupie I knew felt that they would dominate up here.
They didn’t.
Terry Metcalf was a major NFL star in the ‘70s who averaged 2,000 plus net yards for three seasons before signing in Toronto for a three-year stint for more money — yes, I said more money.
Anyhow, Metcalf was an average player for Toronto, averaging only 4.3 yards per carry.
I guess that my big point here is that too many people vastly underestimate the level of talent in this league and judge the players by the size of their paycheques rather than their level of ability.
It would have been nice to see that point driven home to Pacman in a semi-violent way.
Jim Sutherland is a local freelance writer whose column on the CFL appears Tuesdays and Fridays. He can be reached at mystarcollectorcar.com