Huge Upgrade In Dallas Cowboys' Locker Room

Finally, the intense negotiations are over.

Pacman Jones apparently will be a Dallas Cowboy. Chalk this up as another feather in the hat of Owner Jerry Jones.

Certainly, the on-field benefits of having a player of the caliber of Pacman are tangible. Speed, quickness, agility and heart. A franchise corner and game breaking returner rolled into one. On that alone, Jones should get NFL executive of the year for stealing Pacman from the Titans.

But, throw in the intangibles...and Jones put together the greatest deal since he built a dynasty by virtually stealing 3 years of drafts from the Vikings for Herschel Walker.

Pacman is a throwback to the 90's Cowboys. He returns the swagger that Michael Irvin, Nate Newton and the rest of the bad 'Boys brought to Dallas.

The Cowboys have a relatively young squad in need of mature leadership in the locker room. The offense is steadied under the lead and example set by Terrell Owens. And now, the defense finally has someone to take the lead.

Pacman's return to football, after taking a Jordan-esque year off to try his hand at becoming a two sport superstar, has been much anticipated and talked about. And, now with the controversy of having improbably been shot at in a strip club behind him (and the apparent apprehension of the degenerate who handled the weapon), Pacman can fully concentrate on not only bringing his football skills to the Cowboys; but, on setting the example of personal betterment and achievement that the rest of the Cowboys can use as a blueprint to become champions on and off the field.

Part of Pacman's plan during his sabbatical was to continue his education at West Virginia University. Thereby meeting the need of setting an example for young people and fellow players (who never finished their degrees) that education is more important than athletics. So important, that the finest young corner-returner in the league was willing to take a year off to pursue knowledge and further his education.

Certainly, Pacman' pursuit of two-sport stardom (wrestling) infringed a bit on his educational schedule; but nonetheless, Pacman was able to set the example American youth need:

"I'm doing a couple classes online. I was thinking about going back to school, but I didn't really think that I wanted to go back to school. I'm actually taking a class, one class, online. That's about it."

So, with his commitment to education fully demonstrated, Pacman worked out a plan with Las Vegas Police and Clark County District Attorney's office to use his celebrity to bring attention to the importance of community service. Pacman, unlike many athletes who just lend their names to a cause, undertook the hands on performance of 200 hours of community service.

Education and community service have now become synonymous with Pacman Jones. And clearly, Owner Jones felt that adding someone -as the face of the Cowboys' - who had real and demonstrated accomplishments in those areas was necessary to take the team to the next level.

So, while the anticipated result of having Pacman on the roster is that the Cowboys will now be the NFC's version of the Patriots; the real world results will be far deeper reaching.

Owner Jones has fully demonstrated that in the big money world of pro sports, just being a superior athlete is not enough. You must bring more to the table. So he put his money where his mouth is and decided to make the face of America's Team a true American hero:

"I hope people consider Adam a hero in all of this," Jones' lawyer Robert Langford told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "In a lot of neighborhoods in America, West Coast and East Coast, you just shut up. Adam didn't do that. He decided it wasn't right that someone was going to get away with hurting a bunch of people."

We applaud Owner Jones for his unwavering commitment to the personal development and character of players.

And we anticipate that putting Pacman on his roster will produce exactly what America expects of a modern day sports hero.