R. JAY SOWARD

BONUS POINT HALL OF FAMER

You could count on two headlines in the fall of 2001, guaranteed:  Front Page:  U.S. Continues the Search for Bin Laden Sports:  Jaguars Suspend R. Jay Soward for Violating Undisclosed Team Rule R. Jay Soward was suspended roughly 187 different times in 2001 by the Jags for specified and unspecified violations, a season which culminated in his suspension without pay for the entire 2002 season. Now that R. Jay has been elected into the Bonus Point Hall of Fame, let's review the life story the man who racked up all those BPs over the years for JAX. Born Rodney Jay Soward, this criminal/athlete grew up in Inland Empire, about an hour east of Los Angeles, not far from where his father was a well-known high school athlete in San Bernardino. "I grew up without a father around," said the elder R.J. "That's why early on I was strict on R. Jay. I felt that if I pushed him to excel and he had a structured environment, he would be successful." His dad claimed the football environment kept junior away from the streets. If that's the case, the streets decided to come to Soward. In the spring of his junior year in high school, some guys were looking for Soward's cousin at his grandmother's house. After they couldn't find him, they shot up the place. No one was hurt, but the family decided to transfer Soward to another school. For the first two years of college, Soward did whatever he wanted. That structured environment Rodney had tried to give Soward was missing under USC coach John Robinson. Robinson was a good person but lacked discipline with his players. A real speed burner, R Jay never really improved much since his freshman year. Soward lacked focus at times, dropping easy passes and running unprecise routes. He didn't always have his head in the game. But his unquestioned speed and quickness kept him high on the wish lists of NFL scouts.  Things got tougher for Soward when USC brought in new coach Paul Hackett. Hackett publicly feuded with R. Jay. When Soward failed to attend summer workouts in Hackett's first year, he got suspended for USC's opener against Purdue. Hackett's was unhappy with Soward's poor training habits. Soward also did not meet the teams' academic standards. His punishment included suspension from spring drills. During this period of suspension Soward lived out of his car for a while and there were rumors that he had a drug problem. On his right bicep is a tattoo with the word "Outlaw." Then there's "D.L.M. #18" tattooed on his back, which he got after another suspension. It means Dedicated Loyal Man. And finally, the word "talent" is written on his left bicep in Chinese characters. "D.L.M. means to finish everything you do, and do it well," he said. "And talent because God gave me more than one talent." R. Jay's other talents include putting out a rap album during his college days. He skipped summer workouts before his senior season to record the album. Here are some excerpts of the lyrics: On football he wrote: You want to cut my throat and watch me bleed You want to take me out of the game You know what I bring wearing No. 18 On life's struggles, he wrote:  Living life like I know it Frustrated and I know it Walking blind and it shows it But I feel like I'm chosen Trying to reach that destination no matter what's opposing (This CD is available at a special bargain bin price in Bonus Point Hall of Fame gift shop.) When he selected Soward at number 29 in the first round of 1999, Jacksonville coach Tom Coughlin said he had no problems with some of the questions about character that came up with Soward at USC. Apparently character isn't even a remote concern for Coughlin. If you have any doubts about this, look no further than December 2001, when Soward's WR mentor Jimmy Smith had a drug test come out positive for cocaine the same day R. Jay came back to the team after another suspension for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. Coughlin was asked if he would be reluctant to send Soward back to Smith for advice in the future. "Not at all, not at all," Coughlin replied. Jaguar fans should have known that R. Jay's mind was not right when he started complaining about lasting until the 29th pick in the draft. "You don't know what you have until you go 29th in the draft and you're expecting to go in the top five. I thought I was going to go before Courtney Brown [the No. 1 pick].  I had that much faith in myself.  It was off the wall, but that's what I believed." Hopefully his $2 million signing bonus and five-year, $5.45 million contract with the Jaguars made up for some of the hurt.   At this point we heard one of the early versions of Soward's "I did some bad things before but I have straightened my life out now" speech. "Now I understand why Coach Hackett was trying to get me to go to class, trying to make me a better person. I screwed myself.  I messed up.  I went through a rebellious stage.  I started doing things. I didn't need to call my Dad anymore, didn't need to talk to my Mom.  I was turning my back on my fiancee, too." Soward seamlessly made the transition from college underachiever to NFL underachiever. Almost immediately, problems began in Jacksonville. Soward dropped balls consistently through training camp. He got injured just before the regular season started. Coach Coughlin had to fine him several times for being late to team meetings. At one point, Coughlin benched him, only to relent when injuries forced him to put the struggling rookie back in. "The guy is undisciplined," Coughlin said in the first of several blistering public critiques of his receiver.  Tardiness was a chronic problem for Soward all season. He was so irresponsible, Coughlin eventually hired a limousine service to shuttle Soward from home to practice. Soward kept showing up late for meetings, and coach Coughlin suspended the wide receiver for a Dec. 10 game against the Arizona Cardinals. Soward's agent Leigh Steinberg and his dad both said R. Jay was enduring problems related to being far from home.  "The magnified perception of my son being an ultimate thug is just not true," the elder Soward said. "The kid has been brought down to Jacksonville, and given a whole bunch of money. Instead of understanding that he needs to be in the framework of the rules and regulation, he erred. He stays up too late. He goes to too many different places where young people go, too many places and too many parties." Soward caught just 14 passes for 154 yards in 2000, a season that included an abominable game against Washington in which he fumbled a punt, popped an easy catch into the air for an interception and dropped another wide-open catch in the end zone. He also caught his first career touchdown pass, and the one lasting image of that game was him clutching the ball from that score as he walked off the field smiling -- as if his performance in the 35-16 defeat was something to celebrate. In 2001, he brought his Bonus Point achievements to a whole new level. The incident that put R. Jay over the top and into the Hall of Fame, if there was still any doubt about the matter, occurred on July 21 at the Universal Studios' CityWalk bar and restaurant complex in Orlando. At 11:20 p.m., an agitated Soward cursed out park security officers and threatened them with a plastic hotel room key. The police report said Soward had removed his shirt and was trying to fight the security officers when two off-duty Orlando policemen were summoned.  When police tried to calm Soward, he responded by saying, "I don't have to listen to anyone when I've already paid my money -- not even the police. The police kill people. I'm from California." Soward also told the officers that he was a member of the Jaguars, but neither officer recognized his name nor believed he was a professional football player because of the way the 5-11, 182-pound Soward was dressed. "His boxer shorts were completely exposed," Orlando Police Sgt. Orlando Rolon said. "The waistband of his jeans were at mid-thigh level." When the officers told Soward he looked like "a street thug," he responded angrily with a string of obscenities and threatened them.  "If I was a street thug, I would shoot you in the face," Soward said, according to the officers.  Then he changed his tune – begging the cops to "shoot me in the face." Arresting officers wrote in their report that "it appeared [Soward] was under the influence of something other than alcohol." Soward was suspended seven times in 2001: he missed four games for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy, then six games more for violating it again. He was suspended four other games by the Jaguars for violating team rules. R. Jay earned creativity points for his excuse regarding the incident that led to his six-game suspension. According to R. Jay, he arrived to be tested at the site of his appointment well in advance. But nature called early in the morning, and Soward went to the rest room to take care of business. Apparently the irregular wideout prides himself on being "regular" in at least one phase of his life. While in the stall, Soward says he nodded off, apparently the result of some of the most comfortable commode seats known to man. Hopefully he wiped and flushed before dozing off. By the time he awakened, he had missed the appointment. If you think something stinks about that story, so did the league, which denied his rather lame appeal. Soward sustained injuries to his face and a hand in a one-car accident while driving his 2000 Cadillac Escalade in his hometown of San Bernandino. He lost control and ran off the road into a construction site. No arrests were made and Soward was not issued a citation, Watch Sergeant Keith Prostler said. "He was evidently driving too fast for the conditions," adding that the conditions were clear and dry. The Jags' 2001 season was winding down, and by NFL rules, they could not extend his suspension any longer. They were forced to reinstate him, but they didn't put him on the field. Soward never played a down all season, but he earned two $34,000 game checks for the games he was on the roster and eligible to play. He had spent 10 weeks in a Miami rehab center to deal with both depression and substance abuse. Soward took to rehab about as well as Robert Downey Jr. On January 10, 2002 R. Jay was suspended without pay for the entire 2002 season after another failed drug test. His Jaguars teammates expressed surprise after Soward's last incident - proving once again that football players are just not very bright. Fred Taylor said he saw Soward after he was suspended, and that Soward was in good spirits. "He's cool,'' Taylor said. Of the latest drug bust, Taylor said, "I doubt that, man. I talked to him. He's a better kid than that. I know he wouldn't." Tom Coughlin was asked by a Jacksonville reporter if he has ever been so disappointed in a player, to which he replied, "Not in recent memory." Coach Coughlin the enabler has actually been an obstacle in Soward's Bonus Point career at times. Coughlin constantly covers up Soward's violations as fast as R. Jay can commit them.  Like a bird in a cage, Soward needs to fly free from these shackles. The Jags finally cut him loose after the '01 season.  Enjoy the Bonus Points if you can grab the D of his 2003 team, because you know he will continue to produce (at least off the field).  Bottom line: Soward may never hit the field for his NFL team due to constant suspensions, but you're going to want his team's D on your JCFFL roster.

 

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