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Ran across this story today, which then led me to look into the story of Pacman Jones and his involvement in the shooting of Tommy Urbanski. I have to admit, that I never really checked into the story at all before today, and I am disgusted by the fact that Jones is even allowed to walk the streets. While it is nice that Goodell suspended Jones for the entire 2007 season, I have to question Goodell's character in regards to what he told the Urbanski family. It sounds to me, as if he told these poor people exactly what they wanted to hear to keep them quiet until the story "blew over".
Goodell under more pressure
Pennsylvania senator, Arlen Specter, says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s explanation for his actions regarding Spygate are not believable. Goodell has acted quickly to impugn the character of some NFL players - Terry, “Tank” Johnson, Adam “Pacman” Jones, and Michael Vick to name a few - while allowing others to slink away into the shadows - Jared Allen, Jonathan Babineaux, and Patrick Kerney, to name a few.
Goodell’s inconsistent behavior has slipped by the national sports media members unnoticed. However, Larry McShane of the New York Daily News has authored an article that acts as the first serious public indictment of the NFL Commissioner. In it McShane recounts the story of Las Vegas strip club bouncer, Tommy Urbanski’s post-shooting relationship with Goodell as told through Urbanski’s wife, Kathy.
According to Kathy Urbanski Goodell offered to aid her husband in his recovery in any way possible. But when push came to shove, Goodell turned his back on the Urbanskis:
“Roger Goodell told me, ‘You don’t have to call us. We’ll get in touch with you,’” Kathy Urbanski recalled angrily. “Now I realize he meant, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’”
McShane reveals that renovations to the Urbanski home to accommodate the crippled former bouncer will cost millions of dollars - and the Urbanskis are nearly broke:
The Urbanskis claim Goodell made his offers to help them in two phone calls last year. But when they called the NFL back, they say they were ignored.
Goodell remember differently:Goodell has said the NFL was willing to participate in a fund-raiser to aid Tommy Urbanski - but things changed once the couple sued the NFL.
“I’m sorry about the tragedy the family is going through, but I don’t feel we have any responsibility,” Goodell said before the Super Bowl. Goodell said that Kathy Urbanski agreed with him during their chat.
Whether the Urbanskis acted in poor faith and sued the NFL was not answered. However Kathy Urbanski has nothing but unkind words for Goodell as she refutes his claims:
“This is a David-and-Goliath situation, with working people against a very greedy and evil corporation called the NFL,” she said.
Goodell has been charged by the 30 NFL team owners to publicly represent them and their interests. The newly-minted commissioner came out of the box swinging. He was lauded in every corner of the press for his heavy hand in punishing those players who were involved in wrong-doing.
However, the reality of Goodell is that he has been selective in choosing which players to punish, a fact that has gone unnoticed by the NFL and sports press. Now the tide has, fairly quickly, begun to swing in the other direction. And perhaps we will soon get to see if the press turns on Goodell and rebukes the Urbanskis.
But for now Kathy Urbanski’s statements act as a serious indictment of Goodell - and the owners.
Shattered Hopes and Dreams
The life of native Long Island New Yorker Tommy Urbanski was forever tragically altered when he was shot and paralyzed on the morning of February 19th. Tommy, a morning shift manager at the Minxx nightclub in Las Vegas, was shot multiple times outside the main entrance of the club just as he was about to begin his early AM shift. Tommy was rushed to University Medical Center's trauma unit in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest, left hand and arm. The bullet to his chest caused significant internal injuries before ultimately lodging in and severing his spinal cord, leaving Tommy paralyzed from the waist down and clinging for life on a ventilator.
Eyewitnesses allege the shooter was a patron of the Minxx club that evening, seen entering the club and partying side-by-side with NFL Tennessee Titans football star Adam 'Packman' Jones. Club video surveillance also corroborates eyewitness accounts. The shooting occurred after Jones was restrained and ejected by club security for repeatedly and viciously assaulting a woman inside the club. Just prior to being ejected from the club, along with the rest of Jones's entourage, eyewitnesses allege that Jones made direct death threats to club security personnel who had restrained him, stating they would be dead before the night was over. Within minutes of Jones's death threat, the bouncer who had restrained Jones, along with Tommy and another female patron, were shot multiple times just outside the clubs front entrance; Tommy sustaining the most serious injuries. The shooter is currently still at large. In spite of numerous eyewitness accounts to the contrary, Jones claims to have no knowledge of the shooters identity or his whereabouts. Jones is also scheduled to appear in a Georgia court to answer subpoenas for felony and misdemeanor obstruction of justice charges for yet another unrelated incident that occurred in February 2006.
A real estate agent by day, Tommy had only recently landed a part-time management position at the Minxx nightclub to help pay for his wife's law school education, during the slower winter real estate season. By all accounts Tommy and his wife Kathy were living the American dream up until the day of the shooting. Tommy and Kathy pulled up stakes and moved out West to Las Vegas in 1998, with nothing more than a thousands dollars in their pockets, a beat up clunker of a car and their dream for a better life together. Shortly after arriving in Vegas Kathy landed a job as a schoolteacher, and Tommy as a doorman at an upscale nightclub. They worked hard as a family, purchasing their first home only several years after arriving in Vegas. A couple of years later Tommy and Kathy sold their first home after the Vegas housing boom, which lead way to the purchase of their second dream home. Tommy and Kathy's dream life however has since been shattered since the morning of the shooting. The only dream they share now is for Tommy to live and to someday walk again through some modern medical miracle. All they have now is hope. The challenges Tommy and Kathy face together are numerous and great, least not the devastating financial impact on Tommy and Kathy looking ahead. Friends and family have established the 'Tommy Urbanski Fund' to assist Tommy and Kathy rebuild their shattered life.
Please mail donations to the address below; personal check, bank check and money orders accepted. Please make your donation payable to the 'Tommy Urbanski Fund'. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
Goodell under more pressure
Pennsylvania senator, Arlen Specter, says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s explanation for his actions regarding Spygate are not believable. Goodell has acted quickly to impugn the character of some NFL players - Terry, “Tank” Johnson, Adam “Pacman” Jones, and Michael Vick to name a few - while allowing others to slink away into the shadows - Jared Allen, Jonathan Babineaux, and Patrick Kerney, to name a few.
Goodell’s inconsistent behavior has slipped by the national sports media members unnoticed. However, Larry McShane of the New York Daily News has authored an article that acts as the first serious public indictment of the NFL Commissioner. In it McShane recounts the story of Las Vegas strip club bouncer, Tommy Urbanski’s post-shooting relationship with Goodell as told through Urbanski’s wife, Kathy.
According to Kathy Urbanski Goodell offered to aid her husband in his recovery in any way possible. But when push came to shove, Goodell turned his back on the Urbanskis:
“Roger Goodell told me, ‘You don’t have to call us. We’ll get in touch with you,’” Kathy Urbanski recalled angrily. “Now I realize he meant, ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’”
McShane reveals that renovations to the Urbanski home to accommodate the crippled former bouncer will cost millions of dollars - and the Urbanskis are nearly broke:
The Urbanskis claim Goodell made his offers to help them in two phone calls last year. But when they called the NFL back, they say they were ignored.
Goodell remember differently:Goodell has said the NFL was willing to participate in a fund-raiser to aid Tommy Urbanski - but things changed once the couple sued the NFL.
“I’m sorry about the tragedy the family is going through, but I don’t feel we have any responsibility,” Goodell said before the Super Bowl. Goodell said that Kathy Urbanski agreed with him during their chat.
Whether the Urbanskis acted in poor faith and sued the NFL was not answered. However Kathy Urbanski has nothing but unkind words for Goodell as she refutes his claims:
“This is a David-and-Goliath situation, with working people against a very greedy and evil corporation called the NFL,” she said.
Goodell has been charged by the 30 NFL team owners to publicly represent them and their interests. The newly-minted commissioner came out of the box swinging. He was lauded in every corner of the press for his heavy hand in punishing those players who were involved in wrong-doing.
However, the reality of Goodell is that he has been selective in choosing which players to punish, a fact that has gone unnoticed by the NFL and sports press. Now the tide has, fairly quickly, begun to swing in the other direction. And perhaps we will soon get to see if the press turns on Goodell and rebukes the Urbanskis.
But for now Kathy Urbanski’s statements act as a serious indictment of Goodell - and the owners.
Shattered Hopes and Dreams
The life of native Long Island New Yorker Tommy Urbanski was forever tragically altered when he was shot and paralyzed on the morning of February 19th. Tommy, a morning shift manager at the Minxx nightclub in Las Vegas, was shot multiple times outside the main entrance of the club just as he was about to begin his early AM shift. Tommy was rushed to University Medical Center's trauma unit in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds to his chest, left hand and arm. The bullet to his chest caused significant internal injuries before ultimately lodging in and severing his spinal cord, leaving Tommy paralyzed from the waist down and clinging for life on a ventilator.
Eyewitnesses allege the shooter was a patron of the Minxx club that evening, seen entering the club and partying side-by-side with NFL Tennessee Titans football star Adam 'Packman' Jones. Club video surveillance also corroborates eyewitness accounts. The shooting occurred after Jones was restrained and ejected by club security for repeatedly and viciously assaulting a woman inside the club. Just prior to being ejected from the club, along with the rest of Jones's entourage, eyewitnesses allege that Jones made direct death threats to club security personnel who had restrained him, stating they would be dead before the night was over. Within minutes of Jones's death threat, the bouncer who had restrained Jones, along with Tommy and another female patron, were shot multiple times just outside the clubs front entrance; Tommy sustaining the most serious injuries. The shooter is currently still at large. In spite of numerous eyewitness accounts to the contrary, Jones claims to have no knowledge of the shooters identity or his whereabouts. Jones is also scheduled to appear in a Georgia court to answer subpoenas for felony and misdemeanor obstruction of justice charges for yet another unrelated incident that occurred in February 2006.
A real estate agent by day, Tommy had only recently landed a part-time management position at the Minxx nightclub to help pay for his wife's law school education, during the slower winter real estate season. By all accounts Tommy and his wife Kathy were living the American dream up until the day of the shooting. Tommy and Kathy pulled up stakes and moved out West to Las Vegas in 1998, with nothing more than a thousands dollars in their pockets, a beat up clunker of a car and their dream for a better life together. Shortly after arriving in Vegas Kathy landed a job as a schoolteacher, and Tommy as a doorman at an upscale nightclub. They worked hard as a family, purchasing their first home only several years after arriving in Vegas. A couple of years later Tommy and Kathy sold their first home after the Vegas housing boom, which lead way to the purchase of their second dream home. Tommy and Kathy's dream life however has since been shattered since the morning of the shooting. The only dream they share now is for Tommy to live and to someday walk again through some modern medical miracle. All they have now is hope. The challenges Tommy and Kathy face together are numerous and great, least not the devastating financial impact on Tommy and Kathy looking ahead. Friends and family have established the 'Tommy Urbanski Fund' to assist Tommy and Kathy rebuild their shattered life.
Please mail donations to the address below; personal check, bank check and money orders accepted. Please make your donation payable to the 'Tommy Urbanski Fund'. Your generosity is greatly appreciated.
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