Pacman Isn’t Good At History

Pacman Jones is appealing his year-long suspension to Commissioner Goodell this Friday. The basis for the appeal is that the punishment is unprecedented for an off-the-field incident.

Jones' appeal before Goodell will be based on the player's contention that the one-year suspension imposed on him is "unprecedented in its severity, given the League's historical treatment of offenses which are of similar or greater gravity," according to a document obtained by ESPN.

Mr. Jones, allow me to introduce you to Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, two NFL players that were suspended for a full season in 1963 for gambling on NFL games. And as far as we know, no one got shot when Hornung and Karras placed their bets in Vegas. I don't think "unprecedented" is the word you're looking for. I think "not nearly fucking long enough" is closer.

As an interesting side note, Hornung was so grateful to Vince Lombardi for lobbying to get him reinstated the following year that he promised to never go to Vegas again, stop gambling altogether and even stay away from the Kentucky Derby. You have to wonder if Jones would show the same kind of dedication to Jeff Fisher if he were to make a similar appeal to Goodell for Jones's reinstatement.