Goodell reviewing union’s appeal of his decision on Pacman

 

NEW YORK (AP) – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is reviewing the players’ union appeal of his decision last month not to ease the season-long suspension of Titans cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones.
That doesn’t mean he’s in any hurry.
The NFL Players Association needed only two days to announce its appeal of Goodell’s decision Nov. 6 to reject Jones’ request for leniency. The union had hoped to convince Goodell to change his mind, but the exact date of the appeal has not been announced.
Asked if Goodell was hearing the union’s appeal this week, league spokesman Greg Aiello said Tuesday in an e-mail, “The matter is under review.”
Richard Berthelsen, an attorney for the players’ union, did not return telephone messages left by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Gene Upshaw, the NFLPA’s executive director, and union president Troy Vincent discussed Jones at a meeting Tuesday. Vincent said Tuesday afternoon the union sent the NFL letters on the appeal last week.
“We’re still waiting for the league to respond to our last appeal,” Vincent said.
Goodell suspended Jones in April for the 2007 season, and Jones originally appealed, calling that punishment too harsh. He dropped his appeal in June.
That decision by Jones withdrawing his appeal has complicated the union’s attempts to appeal Goodell’s discipline on the cornerback’s behalf.
Goodell had promised Jones he would review the suspension after the Titans’ 10th game but met with him two weeks early on Nov. 2 in New York. But Goodell declined to trim the suspension, which Jones had hoped would help him earn credit for playing this season.
If his suspension stands for the entire season, the Titans will have Jones under contract through 2010 instead of 2009. Team officials have said they will address his future with the franchise after the league reinstates Jones.
When Goodell suspended Jones in April, the cornerback had been arrested five times since the Titans drafted him in April 2005 with the sixth pick overall.
Jones is due to plead no contest Wednesday in a Nevada court to a reduced charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a gross misdemeanor that will get him probation in return for later testimony about a Las Vegas strip club triple shooting that left one man paralyzed.
Clark County prosecutors have agreed to drop two felony counts of coercion stemming from allegations that Jones incited a melee and threatened people inside the club minutes before the shooting outside during NBA All-Star weekend in February.
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AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in New York contributed to this report.