Jackson Free Press

The sports section of Friday's Clarion-Ledger contains an interesting story on Jeremy Bibbs, the former Northwest Rankin High and Copiah-Lincoln CC running back whose football career has been derailed by legal trouble. Five games into his senior season at Northwest Rankin in 2004, Bibbs was indicted for selling crack cocaine. Future Jackson Mayor Frank Melton stepped in and negotiated a deal with the Rankin County district attorney that allowed Bibbs to get probation instead of jail time. After that, Bibbs lived for a time in the arsenal that is Melton's home. Bibbs went to Co-Lin to play football in 2006. He played well in Wesson, but he was arrested for having a weapon on campus. Bibbs' probation was revoked and he went to jail for 18 months.

Now Bibbs is out of jail and looking for another chance to play football. He might go back to Co-Lin. He will have to graduate from junior college if he wants to play at an NCAA Division I school. But Melton has turned up again. He told The Clarion-Ledger that he's going to be Bibbs' recruiting coordinator and take him on a tour of Mississippi colleges. It sounds like something an agent might do. The NCCA would frown upon that. Failing that, Melton says he will arrange a tryout for Bibbs with the NFL's New Orleans Saints or Houston Texans. There might be an NFL in some alternate universe where a team would give Bibbs a shot this season. That won't happen in the NFL on this Earth.

Previous Comments

ID

131048

Comment

Aw, come on, Doc. Where's your sense of adventure? In Frank's world, anything is possible when you have Frank on your side! On Frank's word, doors are gonna open for this young man like never before. If this young man wants to be taken seriously, he should steer clear of Frank Melton.

Author

honey2me

Date

2008-06-20T08:58:54-06:00

ID

131050

Comment

The mayor is trying to save the chiluns by giving them jobs and a chance to be all they can be. Who can be against this? Sure, the mayor is a deer in headlights, a bulb that is blown out, a lamp without a wick, but he's also a tin man with a heart. But I say let's support the mayor. We elected him and he's all we got, for right now. Y'all done stopped him from stopping crime in Jackson in 90 days with prosecutions, bashlash and lawsuits; at least people, let him save the children!

Author

Walt

Date

2008-06-20T09:14:01-06:00

ID

131056

Comment

Walt, you're a hoot: "Y'all done stopped him from stopping crime in Jackson...". Priceless!

Author

Kacy

Date

2008-06-20T11:18:31-06:00

ID

131058

Comment

I met Jeremy when I was spending time in Melton's house. He seemed like a nice guy, but I didn't get the impression he liked being there. My guess is that he needs to break away from Melton's circle of influence, but Melton won't let him. This quote from the Ledger article is priceless; Melton is going to "let" him try out for the Saints and the Texans–as if he has that ability: "If there is any hiccup with his eligibility, I think I am going to let him try out for the New Orleans Saints or the Houston Texans," Melton said. "If the college thing doesn't work out, I'll try to get him in the NFL. He physically has the ability to make it." The chances of Bibbs going directly to the NFL would seem remote. Most teams offer individual tryouts by invitation only, and players who haven't played in 18 months and have just one year of junior college experience on their resume aren't considered prime NFL candidates. At least these days, unlike in past years, the Ledger does more follow-up on his ridiculous statements as they did there. It's about damn time.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2008-06-20T11:43:23-06:00

ID

131059

Comment

Frank may have stock in the Saints and Texans; otherwise, I doubt he would claim powers and abilities he doesn't possess. It wouldn't be cosher or mayor-like to do so. If he has stock or pull with the teams he can get a tryout for the boy or simply put him on the team. Ye of so little faith!

Author

Walt

Date

2008-06-20T12:13:43-06:00