Reprinted with permission of the Tennessean.

Fine dining with defense costs Pacman a bundle

Final tab for Titans tops more than $14K

Oct. 5, 2005

By PAUL KUHARSKY

Staff Writer

When Pacman Jones finally joined the Titans in late August, players and coaches said the No. 6 overall draft pick would have to pay a lot of dues.

It turns out he also paid a $14,240.15 dinner tab.

Following precedent set by the team's top draft picks before him — and at a time when many veterans said he needed to show humility and good humor to gain credibility in the locker room — Jones bought dinner for most of the defense at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar on West End on Sept. 8.

Several players said it was the biggest tab they could remember a player picking up and thought it was a significant move by Jones. Others suggested he didn't deserve too much credit for fulfilling what's considered an obligation for a top draft pick.

Jones laughed when he was asked about the tab recently.

"I thought it was going to be like $3,000. I was like 'Wow,' " he said, throwing his head back and rolling his eyes. "I think they kind of knew though, because everybody was, like, smirking when the dude brought the tab out."

The evening was a blowout version of the sort of gatherings that happen every summer and extend into the season for some positions groups, particularly the offensive line. Players say gatherings for meals away from the office allow for a different brand of bonding that can wind up helping out on Sundays.

During his extended contract holdout, Jones traded jabs with management and a couple veterans, including linebacker Keith Bulluck. At one point Jones said Bulluck, the team's best defensive player, didn't know anything about being drafted high.

Asked recently about the gigantic meal at Fleming's, Bulluck showed off a bottle of Perrier Jouet Brut Rose — list price at Fleming's: $325 — stashed in his locker.

"I might not know what it's like to be the No. 6 pick in the draft," Bulluck said with a big grin. "Nor do I know what it's like to pay a tab like that for the whole defense."

Several Titans came away from the big dinner with a high-priced bottle.

"They were ordering bottles of Cristal and (Perrier Jouet)," Jones said. "I think it came to $8,000 worth of liquor."

Jones collected a $2 million signing bonus when his contract was finalized Aug. 22, and another $1.57 million as a roster bonus at the start of the season. He will earn a $230,000 base salary this season spread out over the 17 weeks of the regular season and another $5.63 million bonus next year.

His willingness to spend was not viewed as a choice by many Titans veterans, who were quick to point out other first-rounders, like Albert Haynesworth, had also treated a large contingent of Titans to a pricey meal.

"It was just something (Jones) had to do," Bulluck said. "There was no discussion. Some things you don't know that you have to go through as a rookie coming in."

Asked if he paid for any sort of comparable dinner tab in 2000 when he was drafted 30th overall, Bulluck said: "I didn't have to. I didn't run my mouth."

But even rookies drafted outside the first round generally take some sort of hit to their wallet when it comes to picking up the check.

Defensive tackle Rien Long, a fourth-round pick in 2003, remembered a steak dinner for the defensive line that cost him more than $2,000.

"At least 2 Gs on a dinner, that hurts," he said. "But I didn't mind it so much. Then the next year we had four draft picks (on the defensive line) so we had a great time at their expense."

The offensive line has a long-running system for Thursday night meals during the season.

Before the opener the group determines "dues" for each of its rookies based on their draft position. Weekly payments then cover the tabs for catered meals in the Titans' facility that might be eaten during an extra film review session, or dinners like last week's at Stoney River Legendary Steaksin Cool Springs.

"We can be demanding at times because we're ordering multiples of every appetizer on the menu and we're constantly yelling at them to bring us more and more stuff," center Justin Hartwig said. "But we definitely compensate (waiters and waitresses) at the end of the night."

Guard Benji Olson remembered his dues being between $200-$300 a week. Hartwig paid $175 and said restaurant tabs come close to $2,000 when the group decides on a higher-end establishment.

"It's a lot of money. After 17 weeks it adds up," Hartwig said. "Every Thursday morning you're going to the ATM and pulling out $175 of hot cash and just putting it into a jar. It (stinks)."

Rookies are typically also responsible for stocking a snack table in a positional meeting room and for bringing the rest of the players at their position breakfast on Saturday mornings.

When second-round pick Michael Roos lined up to go through airport security for the team's Sept. 10 flight to Pittsburgh, he had a carry-on bag and a big bag of Popeye's chicken for the veteran offensive linemen.

Jones got more credit from some teammates than others for picking up the big bill with no audible complaint.

"That's expected," said veteran linebacker Peter Sirmon, who wasn't on hand for the Fleming's feast. "I wouldn't classify that as a gesture. You think of all the stuff that went on in that (training) camp, he was expected to foot a big bill and it sounds like he did it willingly, which is good. But it's part of being No. 1, I think."

The "stuff that went on" included a settlement hearing for felony vandalism and misdemeanor assault charges against Jones from an alleged nightclub skirmish on July 14 and verbal shots at Bulluck and Haynesworth in The Tennessean.

As for the size of the Fleming's bill, Sirmon said: "He's a special kid."

Some Titans said another dinner that will be sponsored by Jones and include the offensive line is in the works.

Jones is already anticipating something else — a new first-round pick next April to come in and put his credit card on the dinner table. Is he already building up an appetite for that meal?

"Oh yeah," Jones said. "Yes I am."

Paul Kuharsky covers the Titans and the NFL for The Tennessean. Reprinted with permission of The Tennessean.