Adam “Pacman” Jones is on to quite the second career in the media landscape. After finishing his NFL career in 2018, Jones has dove into the media space in a number of ways. The most notable one lately has been his The Pacman Jones Show YouTube show and podcast with co-host Evan Rosenblum of TMZ fame, which has shot into prominence since its September launch. And Jones recently told AA his ambitions are to take it even higher.
“I want to be the biggest talk show in the world,” he said.
That’s a massive goal, but Jones is confident his team can build on their early success.
“I’ve got a great team. There are a couple of things that we can do better as a group. Our Pacman Jones Show, it started in September…we’ve done over 20 million impressions, so obviously we’ve got something there.”
It’s a crowded sports media world, especially in the show and podcast realm, but Jones thinks the content on his show stands out and will drive it to further prominence.
“You know what’s different about our show, our show is like, there’s only three of them that I really like,” he said. “I swear I shouldn’t say that. There’s only three shows that really talk like barbershop talk, and I won’t name the other two shows because I don’t want them to get all the publicity.
“I think that we’re **** near, by far, definitely during football season, number one. The other shows do a little bit better with boxing and basketball because that’s their relationship, but I’ve got a lot of relationships in the boxing community. I expect by this time next year we will be one of the biggest shows in the industry. ….The Pacman Jones Show will be one of the top shows in 2025.”
This is the latest move into media from Jones. He was initially involved with I Am Athlete, and has done other projects such as Runnin’ It Back w/ Pac + Zach (with Zachary McCall Hirsch) for BetOnline. But Jones said he particularly got the bug to do this out of asking Pat McAfee in 2023 if he could go on McAfee’s show, which turned into a recurring segment.
“I was thinking, I was with I Am Athlete, I was **** near the savior of I Am Athlete, or the first version: before they ended, I left. Then I had a chance, I called Pat McAfee and said, ‘Hey, I need a little help.’ He’s like, ‘What do you need help with?’ I was like, ‘I want to come on the show, bro.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, we’ll do whatever if you want to come on.’ Thank God he did that.”
Jones said the biggest thing he learned from McAfee was watching the way he gets the most out of his interviewees.
“Yeah, it was how to ask the question, and basically asking the question to make the person answer it in a different way.”
And Jones said watching McAfee’s approach inspired him to do a show in his own style.
“And I had a chance to just sit there and pick his brain for **** near a year and a half, and I’m like, you know, maybe I should step out on faith and do this. Not the way he’s doing it, but do it in my way, which is politely raw.”
He described that “politely raw” approach as being honest without being mean.
“It’s more of a splash, more saying exactly what you want to say, and asking different coaches, players, exactly what you’re gonna say. A lot of guys are, when you come in, ‘Oh, these questions are off limits.’ Ain’t nothing off limits with me. And I told people everything is politely raw, but it’s not off limits.”
And Jones said his time being under a media microscope for legal issues during part of his playing career has him willing to go to places others might not.
“In a lot of these shows or programs, they sometimes don’t talk about everything as it might offend some of the people. On my show, it’s ‘Sorry to offend you, bro, but, like, I was in the glass house for **** for a whole year on ESPN. They talked about me for 80 days straight.”
Jones said co-host and executive producer Rosenblum, who he’s had a long relationship with, has been key to making that work.
“I started with Evan on I Am Athlete, and for people that don’t know his background, he started TMZ with Harvey [Levin]. Evan kicked it off with that group, and he was helping me, helping Brandon [Marshall] do the producing when we were on I Am Athlete, and we just always connect, man. We’ve always had a friendship.
“I called him with some different ideas and intentions, and he helped me come up with what I really wanted the concept of the show to be like. And he’s a friend. He’s the center, I’m the quarterback; he hands me the ball and I get the ball to the players.”
Jones said the expertise he and Rosenblum bring to interviews and sports discussions helps them stand out, as does their connections and their ability to get guests for real conversations rather than promotional segments.
“I think my show stands out because first and foremost we got two guys on there that know what the **** we’re doing, and what we’re going to talk about, which is myself and Evan. And the topics that we come up with, the people that we get to be on the show, with nobody pushing these people for us, it explains itself.
“It explains our reach of going to get different characters, no matter if they’re athletes, coaches, actors, rappers, et cetera. It could be the ******* president for all we give a ****. But our show is a platform of trying to stay positive, keeping it upbeat, and enjoying the conversation.”
Jones said he was initially reluctant to enter the media world, but after being repeatedly asked for and paid for interviews elsewhere, he decided he wanted to try and take that role on himself.
“Well, I didn’t want to do it. I was getting paid all these money for these interviews. I’m like ‘****, maybe I should start interviewing.’ So that’s basically how I came in. And then I was like, ‘Oh, I enjoy doing this.’ And that was all she wrote.”
And Jones said he enjoys working in the media world overall, but he wants to make sure his show doesn’t wind up in the realm of personal criticism he sometimes faced from media during his career.
“It’s not bad. My whole pet peeve of me being on the other side now is critique, what am I critiquing when I’m critiquing. Personal life stuff, I don’t like. You got a problem with your girl, that ain’t my business, but if you play with that on Sunday, that’s my business. And if you wear something I don’t like, that’s my business, because that’s a public outfit, the public is allowed to talk about that.
“So that’s the main thing on my show: tell the facts, talk about the games, talk about hot topics, what’s going on. And I just try to make sure I’m not talking about people personally. That’s the best way to do it.”