Just for your information, advertising a book as "whore-free" doesn't make people want to buy it.

PK gets quite a bit of flak around these parts, but credit where it is due this week's article is pretty good.

But mentioning a book as "whore-free" in this context does show a sense of humor, which some of us appreciate more than others. :-)

I'm bored at work, so I actually read MMQB for the first time in a while. The Jason Peter book sounds like a watered down version of Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries (which isn't exactly an insult - Sixx has "died" at least once).

That Rodney Harrison thing was good though - apparently he's not the complete asshat I'd always assumed.

All in all, I think King remains what he was when I stopped reading - a decent writer who isn't good enough to deserve a big column like MMQB, but isn't bad enough to have it taken off him.

And good point ebongreen.

"6. I think everyone laughs when I say this, but it's 100 percent true: The best thing that could happen (and it is happening) to Pacman Jones is the influence of Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin. Sanders and Irvin will see to it that Jones stays out of trouble. Mark my words."

First, we laugh at most of what King writes. Second, this could easily have been a headline in a DJ Gallo satire piece.

RE#2 - I thought this week was particularly mediocre. To be fair, it's the offseason and there's not much to report. But it's not like King ever really "reports" anyway.

I wonder how much of any of these books he actually read? He's admitted in the past that he typically "doesn't have time to read" the books he writes about.

The good news is that we're spared King for the next month.

This is the type of article King really shines at. When he does the human-interest stuff he's one of the best, and currently there's blessedly little on-field analysis to be distract him from that.

Of course, there's always fun stuff to point out in any King article. Such as...

"3. I think if any GM wants New Orleans cornerback Jason David, he should give Saints GM Mickey Loomis a call."

... and then begin updating his resume.

What podge meant is that he would prefer it if the book had whores in it.

I can see skepticism at the notion that Pacman will stay out of trouble. But really, could he get two better cautionary tales than Deion and Irvin? Both were supremely talented and blessed, and both nearly threw it all away. It's entirely possible they won't be able to get through to Jones. But the idea of them being good influences is far from laughable.

Heineken Light? Go figure.

Aaron, with the way you guy continuously remind us (sometimes subtly...sometimes not so much) about PFP I find it hard to believe you can call PFP "whore-free" with a straight face. ;-)

re 4: has anyone NOT written some stupid book about their drug addictions? I cant wait till people stop profiting from being dumbasses.

Is it really surprising that a defensive guru like Marvin Lewis would have a good offense? To defeat your enemy, you have to know him, and who better to figure out how to dismantle a defense than one who has studied them his whole career?

Plus, if you're smart and have some talented players, it's easier to build a good offense than a good defense, because the offense chooses how to attach the defense. In general, an offense will be as good as it's few most talented players. A defense will be as good as its few weakest players.

Re: 11

None of these folks write their books to make money, they're just trying to 'give back' by sharing their stories. In fact, these folks are so selfless, I think they get to claim their book profits as charitable contributions.

Re: 12

I've seen the same line of reasoning here with regard to Billick and the Ravens and I just don't buy it. If the guy is such a great defensive mind that he boost his offense's performance by teaching them about defensive principles, it stands to reason he should be able to similarly boost the defensive performance. Just because an explanation is obvious (the Bengals have better players on offense, the Ravens have better players on defense), that doesn't make it wrong.

6 - I heard Hole-in-zone may still be available in a trade.

I watched the America's Game Superbowl special show about the '94 49ers team and one of the things that stood out on it was the things the 49er veterans were saying about Deion Sanders. Apparently they were all expecting this hard-living wild child who was painting the town red every night. The guy who turned up was a T-Total quiet guy who worked incredibly hard and then went home to his family. The only time 'Prime Time' turned up was on gameday and whenever someone put a microphone in front of him. The rest of the time he was a very conscientious athlete, even if he was as media savvy as any player in the league. It was a very clever act to increase his earnings and exposure, and everyone bought it hook line and sinker. BTW there could be loads of examples which make this theory a complete load, but I don't have any.

On the other hand Irvin being a positive influence is utterly ridiculous.

I've haven't written a book about my addiction.

Caffeinism.

It's a killer.

Re: 8

How did Deion "nearly throw it all away?"

Re #16 - I lived in Dallas during the Deion years and everything I ever heard (outside of an accident that had some weird circumstances around depression in Cincinnati) was exactly what you are saying. He was unbelievably obnoxious in front of the camera and had a "persona" for the TV cameras but you ask players and he was the hardest working, cleanest, football-focused guys you'll find. He did a lot of the crazy stuff when he was younger in Atlanta, etc., but once he dropped baseball and went to the 49ers and Dallas, he became the guy you'd want to build a defense around because of his on-field and off-field dedication...

It was awesome, there was a recent ESPN article about Pac-Man, and they mentioned, without a trace of sarcasm, (paraphrase approaching): "Pac-Man has been working on building a better social circle, including former Cowboys Michael Irvin and Deion Sanders, as well as new teammate Tank Johnson." I nearly peed my pants when I read that.

overall I agree...good article

although it seems he takes his beer like he take his whores: green, overpriced, + bitter.
(had to get in on the theme)

& I suppose if Rodney Harrison was Jewish, or an atheist, he wouldn't rank as high with Tyree. Can't these bumbs keep J.C. out of the N.F.L?

Is there another sports journalist anywhere who would dare devote part of an article to announcing his own birthday? Or to a woman he overheard trying to buy a pizza?

Oh, and I have a theory that King leads a double life and in fact knows the names of all the drugs Jason Peter was addicted to, plus lots and lots more besides.

18: Call me crazy, but I consider attempted suicide to be almost throwing it all away.

15: Be careful how you handle the negotiations. Wouldn't want to get slapped for tampering.

Re: 22

Don't think that J.C. is on any NFL roster. Also don't think that Tyree is injecting J.C. into the NFL. Just into his book. And who can blame him, that guy has sold a lot of books.

Don’t think that J.C. is on any NFL roster. Also don’t think that Tyree is injecting J.C. into the NFL. Just into his book. And who can blame him, that guy has sold a lot of books.

Yeah, but he got screwed on the royalties.

Anyone else find it interesting that PK could not understand that someone might not eat a whole pizza?

REe REe 22

If you don't like it: Don't buy the book.

Wow simple answer eh? I'm betting your not a big Kitna, Deion Sanders, Shaun Alexander, Barry Sanders etc. fan either cuz at certain points in their "careers" they shared a faith they had?

#24 You're from Ohio, right Trogdor? You should be able to understand why someone in Cincinnati would consider suicide.

I'm sure Irvin will help Jones avoid trouble if only because Irvin knows exactly where all the trouble is.

yep, nothing more cute and heart warming that a child rushing out into the path of an oncoming pack of runners and her mom "nearly knock(ing) over four runners to get to her," so that the child could jump into her arms. (OK, I realize that this far back in the pack, this is not a competitive athletic event, but unless the guy was exaggerating, the 'nearly knocked over four runners' part was not amusing. Let's say the little girl was 'nearly knocked over' instead--is the story quite as "cute" now?)

Since when do people of Pacman's apparent intelligence and attitude LEARN from a cautionary tale????

Are you guys naive, or really really naive?

Where would Kaczur be ranked among the Patriots linemen? Got to figure Goodell will be sitting him down for a while.

#27 wins the thread. LOL

Moe-- I would put Kaczur as after Mankins, Light and Koppen. Maybe after Neal too.

Basically, Neal is good but gets hurt. Kaczur is the only one that they drafted a legitimate replacement (O'Callaghan) and both have experience. So while Kaczur was a 3rd round pick, he is the shakiest of the 5...

There's something about the Kaczur story that's not been made public yet. The story I've seen says Kaczur got pulled over with a few pills. I can't believe that would have meritted much more than a small fine from the local law enforcers. Why he would have agreed to wear a wire just to avoid a small fine makes no sense. Did the league offer to go easier on him if he helped the cops?

Another part of the story that I've seen says Kaczur was buying a 100 pills every few days. Is it even conceivable that he was using this much himself? If they had him on a potential distribution charge that would explain his cooperation, but who knows.

Until the facts get clearer on this one it's hard to know what sort of league action he might face.

From what I heard, he was pulled over with whatever was left of the 100 pills he bought, so it was a large number. And having any pills you don't have a prescription for is bad.

So he agreed to help the cops in exchange for some sort of leniency.

As for the number, you wouldn't think it would be possible, but it is easy to build up a tolerance, and he is a huge dude. I think 100 pills a week is excessive, but he could have been doing it. Don't think he would ever distribute it, unless you mean to teammates.

FWIW Jason Peter claims to have taken as many as 80 Vicodin a day, as well as sleeping pills.

"18: Call me crazy, but I consider attempted suicide to be almost throwing it all away."

Deion's prone corpse lying on the field probably would've been a better tackler than the living, breathing version. There's always a chance that someone might trip over it.

5. Why is this absurd? They're both guys who have been trouble (Irvin for drugs, Sanders for... well, I don't know that Sanders has ever been a "problem") so they plenty of experience.

They both also have a strong family structure to help them lead good lives, something that Pacman sorely lacks and could use.