Christion Jones (born December 20, 1992) is a former

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. Jones played for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

and

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

College career

Jones committed to

on September 30, 2010. Jones earned the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year award in 2013. During his four years in Alabama, Jones had 85 receptions for 1,030 yards including seven touchdowns. Jones also returned 66 punts for 719 yards including three touchdowns and returned 68 kickoffs for 1,727 yards and two touchdowns.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Jones went undrafted in the

2015 NFL Draft The 2015 NFL Draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park, from April 30 to May 2. The previous ...

. Shortly after, he signed as a free agent with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Dealing with a hamstring issue during training camp, Jones was waived on September 5, 2015. He was released with an injury settlement on September 9. On March 2, 2016, Jones was once again signed by the Dolphins but was later released on May 2, 2016.

Toronto Argonauts

On May 17, 2016, Jones signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

. Jones was later released on June 15, 2016.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

After more than a year out of football, Jones signed with the

of the

on July 17, 2017. Jones made his regular season professional football debut on August 13, 2017 versus the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

. He scored his first touchdown on September 29 when he returned a 97-yard punt for a touchdown against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) ( French: Le Rouge et Noir d'Ottawa) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Startin ...

. He played in ten games that season, returning 45 punts for 645 yards and two touchdowns, as well as 18 kickoffs for 423 yards. He made his biggest impression against the

in the 2017 CFL East Final, when he returned a 79-yard punt for a touchdown to put the Roughriders up late in the game in a losing cause. Jones was named the team's Most Outstanding Special Teams Player for 2017. On December 27, 2017, Jones signed an extension with the Roughriders that would keep him on the team through the 2019 season.

Edmonton Eskimos

Jones was traded to the

on August 5, 2019 in exchange for wide receiver

Kenny Stafford Kenny Stafford (born April 20, 1990) is a gridiron football wide receiver who is a free agent. He was most recently a member of the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). In the United States, he has been a member of the Atlan ...

. Playing in 10 games, Jones caught 7 passes for 43 yards, and had a combined 1,420 return yards, and was extended for the 2020 season. On June 27, 2020 on the day of

Global Pride Global Pride was an online LGBT Pride event, which took place on June 27, 2020. Organized as a response to the international COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of most traditional LGBTQ pride events due to social distancing restriction ...

, Jones made a now deleted post expressing homophobia on Twitter, and extensively defended the original post throughout the day. Jones was released by the Eskimos the next day; he apologized 8 minutes prior to his release being made public. The CFL added a statement concurrent with the release of Jones, expressing support for the LGBTQ+ community.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Christion 1992 births Living people Alabama Crimson Tide football players American football running backs Canadian football running backs People from Adamsville, Alabama Sportspeople from Jefferson County, Alabama Players of American football from Jefferson County, Alabama Miami Dolphins players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Toronto Argonauts players Canadian football return specialists Edmonton Elks players Players of Canadian football from Alabama