Adam Jones comes from a place of experience when discussing the pitfalls facing young professional athletes.
The Cincinnati Bengals defensive back made an impression when he spoke with incoming players at the NFL Rookie Symposium last June in Aurora, Ohio. He's scheduled to speak again at the event next week, though recent events have raised the question of if he should be involved.
Jones was arrested last week and accused of striking a woman with an open palm after she allegedly threw a beer bottle at him outside Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Jones, who pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge, tweeted that he was "protecting himself" and would not let the incident "break me or change what I have work so hard for."
NFL senior vice president of player engagement Troy Vincent said (via Joe Reedy of The Cincinnati Enquirer) that Jones remains attached to the symposium, which will be held from June 23 to June 29.
Jones' past troubles include when a Nevada judge ruled last summer that the defensive back must pay $11.65 million in compensatory damages for his involvement in a February 2007 strip club shooting that injured two people. In 2011, he was found guilty of disorderly conduct for an incident outside a bar in Cincinnati.
Jones presents himself as a changed man. That's up for debate given his ever-evolving rap sheet.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
