ATLANTA -- With the words "Feed The Children" written across his black T-shirt, NFL outcast Pacman Jones stood outside the church doors, passing out almost 500 boxes of food and toiletries to the people who know him best.
"This is for you all -- the community," he told an elderly woman, as a crowd of about 200 swarmed around him.
The troubled cornerback is trying clean up his image, hoping this good deed for his hometown will be another step toward showing he's worthy of reinstatement to the league that suspended him for numerous arrests.
Meet Pacman the Humanitarian.
On Tuesday, Jones helped needy families at Word of Faith Ministries, a church in an impoverished area on the west side of Atlanta where his aunt and uncle are members. He said the church was a perfect place to pay homage to a community that has given him the most support.
Jones teamed up with Feed the Children, a nonprofit relief organization that delivers food, medicine and clothing to the poor.
"I can tell he really wanted to give back," said Suzanne Werdann, director of sports partnership for the nonprofit organization.
She said Feed the Children and Jones are planning a relief trip to Africa as well.
"It's not going to stop here for him," Werdann said. "He really wants to shed a better light of himself to others who don't know him."
Jones has fans cheering him on.
"Pacman, I can't wait to see you on the football field again," said a man who turned out at the church.
"Me too," Jones replied.
The sixth pick in the 2005 draft by the Tennessee Titans, Jones was suspended last season for violating the league's personal conduct policy after several arrests. He has asked for reinstatement on several occasions, but commissioner Roger Goodell wants him to show he's turned his life around through actions, not words.
