On Tuesday, reports surfaced that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL are closing in on a deal with unwanted (by the NFL) cornerback Pacman Jones. And Blue Bombers director of player personnel John Murphy talked openly about the arrival of Pacman.
“If I was in the same position in the NFL I might have a lot more reservations,” Murphy told Jim Trotter of SI.com. “But for me it’s a win-win. I’m smart enough to know that if I’m looking for somebody who can be a playmaker for the second half of our season, there isn’t a better football player who’s not in the NFL, at 25 years old, who’s ready to play football, is going to play with a chip on his shoulder, and is going to bring some fun and excitement to our team, our locker room, our city, and our league.
“And at the same time it’s a business decision as well as football decision,” Murphy said “From a marketing standpoint, a business standpoint and a football standpoint, I could go to 100 NFL training camps and every preseason game and more people will hear and know about the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the next two weeks -- from the coverage we’ll receive
-- than in the last 10 years.”
So it sounds like the Blue Bombers are indeed poised to sign Pacman, and that Murphy had no qualms about discussing the issue.
That’s what makes the reaction by team officials after word broke so bizarre.
During an otherwise routine Tuesday press conference, the Blue Bombers wouldn’t talk about Pacman.
“As per the league and club policy, we do not discuss negotiations with players, we do not discuss players we are possibly in negotiation with,” Blue Bombers director of football operations Russ Hodgkinson said, according to the Winnipeg Free Press. “The CFL policy is no information on a contract is to be discussed until it’s registered with the league. The topic of Pacman Jones is purely a hypothetical topic and will not be discussed going forward in this press conference.”
Murphy apparently hadn’t gotten the memo.
Here’s video of the press conference.
Despite the team’s sudden refusal to acknowledge the looming arrival of Pacman, his arrival looms. The Free Press reports that he could be suiting up and playing by the coming weekend. (But presumably not in the suit shown above.)
