‘Oops!’ Can Cowboys' Barry Switzer Save Patriots' Jack Jones from Prison?

Both former Cowboys coach Barry Switzer and current Jets' All-Pro Quinnen Williams didn't spend a day behind bars after being arrested for carrying a gun to the airport. Can the same "oops" defense work for the Patriots' Jack Jones?

It worked for Barry Switzer. Can it save Jack Jones?

In the wake of his Tuesday arraignment and nine gun-related charges stemming from his arrest at Boston's Logan Airport last Friday, New England Patriots' cornerback Jack Jones is in limbo of being a potential starting cornerback instead staring at 30 years in prison.

Jones attempted to board a flight with two loaded guns and a large-capacity feeding device. If convicted on all counts, his NFL career will likely be over and he could spend a big chunk of his life behind bars.

But in most cases of guns confiscated at airports, "criminal intent" is a key factor of the accused being prosecuted with either an iron fist or a slap on the wrist.

Jones' attorney, Rosemary Scapicchio, is already playing the "oops" card.

"Jack had no intention of bringing any guns into Logan Airport that day," Scapicchio said. "I expect that the evidence is going to show that he had no knowledge of what was going on."

Though it sounds like a close relative to "my dog ate my homework" excuse or something uttered countless times when suspects are tackled in an episode of COPS, "I dunno where that came from" actually works. Sometimes.

In 1997 Switzer, then the Super Bowl-winning head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, attempted to board a flight at D-FW Airport to his team's training camp in Austin with a loaded, unlicensed .38-caliber handgun in his carry-on luggage. Because officials determined it was an accident, Switzer was fined $3,500 and given one year of deferred adjudication. He was also fined $75,000 by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Switzer's defense?

"I took my bag in security and wondered why my bag had stopped," he said. "I'm waiting, having a conversation with people. I look up, and there's two police officers standing beside me. I look at them, and they look at me with a serious look. All of a sudden I realize, 'My God, I didn't take that pistol out of my bag.' "

In Jack Jones' case, Scapicchio's "I dunno" explanation may hold some water. It was just a month ago that Jones took to social media to vigorously criticize Memphis Grizzlies' star Ja Morant for brandishing a gun and getting discipline by the NBA. For him to show up to the airport with loaded guns so soon after would be a special cocktail of arrogance and hypocrisy.

Of course, this isn't Jones' first brush with the law. He was arrested in college for burglary, and last season was suspended by the Patriots for reportedly missing rehab sessions while on injured reserve and mouthing off to Bill Belichick.

For more recent perspective on Jones' legal trouble, in 2020 New York Jets' All-Pro defensive lineman Quinnen Williams was arrested at New York's LaGuardia Airport for attempting to board a flight with a Glock 19 pistol he had registered only in Alabama. Williams, however, took a plea deal in which he forfeited the gun and paid a $250 fine in exchange for having his weapons charges downgraded to a violation of only disorderly conduct.

---

Follow Richie Whitt on Twitter

Follow Patriots Country on Twitter and Facebook

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Patriots? Click Here

More Patriots coverage from Sports Illustrated here.