Dhani Makalani Jones (born February 22, 1978) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played for eleven seasons in 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 ...

. 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 ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

, earning All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

honors for three straight seasons. He was selected by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the sixth round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

and played for the team for four seasons. Jones also played for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

and the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. In addition to his football career, Jones hosted the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

series ''

Dhani Tackles the Globe ''Dhani Tackles the Globe'' is an American Documentary, documentary television series hosted by National Football League, NFL linebacker Dhani Jones of the Cincinnati Bengals, currently airing on the Travel Channel; the series followed Jones ar ...

'' and the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

show '' Ton of Cash''. Jones also was on the

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

series ''

Adventure Capitalists ''Adventure Capitalists'' is an American reality television series that premiered on August 22, 2016, on CNBC. ''Adventure Capitalists'' shows aspiring entrepreneur-contestants as they make business presentations to a panel of investors, who choo ...

''.

Early years

Jones attended middle school at

Cabin John Middle School Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is a public school district that serves Montgomery County, Maryland. With 210 schools, it is the largest school district in the state of Maryland. For the 2022–2023 school year, the district has 13,994 ...

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...

, where he played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. As a senior at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Jones was an All-Met, All-Western Region, and an All-County pick, and also was ranked the fifth best linebacker prospect in the Atlantic Coast Region despite missing most of the regular season with a ruptured disc he injured working out for Penn State earlier in the summer. Jones was also a varsity wrestler in high school, as well as a member of his high school's track team.

College career

At the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, Jones was a three time All-

honoree. As a sophomore, Jones started nine games at linebacker and finished second on the team with 90 tackles and six sacks, playing alongside

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winner

Charles Woodson Charles Cameron Woodson (born October 7, 1976) is a former American football defensive back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons with the Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Mic ...

on Michigan's 1997 national champion squad. As a junior in 1998, Jones started at linebacker and finished with 72 tackles. Jones moved to strong side linebacker as a senior in 1999, and finished second on the team with 81 tackles. Jones is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved int ...

and is an initiate of the Epsilon chapter at the

Professional career

New York Giants

Jones was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the

with the 177th overall pick. He played with the team until 2003.

Philadelphia Eagles

The

acquired Jones from the Giants as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2004. During Jones stint with the Eagles, he started in

Super Bowl XXXIX Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League ( ...

. On April 30, 2007 the Eagles released Jones.

New Orleans Saints

On July 6, 2007, Jones signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, where he was thought to be able to push for a starting job. Jones, however, was released on September 1, 2007 during final roster cutdowns.

Cincinnati Bengals

On September 19, 2007 Jones signed a one-year contract with the Bengals. In the 2008 offseason, Jones signed a 3-year contract to return to the Bengals. Following the 2010 season, Jones' contract expired and he was not issued a new contract, so he became a free agent. Jones retired in October 2011.

Post-playing career

''Dhani Tackles the Globe''

Jones was the star of ''

'', a series for the

in which he learns how to play international sports that are unknown to most Americans. For example, in the first season he played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for English club,

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

. The show ran for two seasons.

''Adventure Capitalists''

Jones was a host/investor on the series ''

''. This series first aired on August 22, 2016 on

. Jones and other investors listen to pitches and try out products from new entrepreneurs. Jones and the other investors decided if they would like to invest in the entrepreneurs outdoor/adventure company.

Business ventures

In 2010, Jones opened the Bow Tie Cafe in the historic Mount Adams neighborhood of Cincinnati, which sells coffee, drinks, cafe sandwiches. Jones is a partner of VMG Creative, a New York City creative agency, with clients such as Michael Kors, Capital One, Estee Lauder, P&G. Jones founded a creative agency, Proclamation, based in Cincinnati, and is chairman of Qey Capital Partners, an investment fund, both based in Cincinnati. Dhani Jones is the CEO of Petram Data, a Company that uses pre-trained AI Models to reduce marketing spend and improve customer retention

Personal life

In addition to his prowess as a professional athlete, Jones has shown a variety of skills off the field. Jones founded a company that sells high-end bowties, and he also wrote movie reviews and commentary for

Page 2 ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

. Jones is also an avid cyclist, using his

fixed-gear bicycle A fixed-gear bicycle (or fixed-wheel bicycle, commonly known in some places as a fixie) is a bicycle that has a drivetrain with no freewheel mechanism. The freewheel was developed early in the history of bicycle design but the fixed-gear bicyc ...

to commute to practices and games throughout the year. He also participated in the cycling leg of the Durham Doughman Challenge on Travel Channel's ''

Man v. Food ''Man v. Food'' is an American food reality television series. It premiered on December 3, 2008 on the Travel Channel. The program was originally hosted by actor and food enthusiast Adam Richman. In each episode, Richman explores the "big food" o ...

''. The challenge was a team quadrathlon consisting of running, swimming, cycling and food eating. On June 7, 2011, Jones' book, ''The Sportsman: Unexpected Lessons from an Around-the-World Sports Odyssey'', was released. The book talks about his experiences in football, travel, and life in general. Jones is committed to several

Cincinnati, OH Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

charities and nonprofits. Among other positions, he serves on the boards of Breakthrough Cincinnati and the

Cincinnati Art Museum The Cincinnati Art Museum is an art museum in the Eden Park neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1881, it was the first purpose-built art museum west of the Alleghenies, and is one of the oldest in the United States. Its collection of ov ...

. Jones founded a philanthropic organization, BowTie Cause, in 2010.

Television

*''

'' (2009–2010) – Host – Travel Channel *''Timeless'' – Host – ESPN *'' Ton of Cash'' (2011) – Host – VH1 Playbook360 (2011-2016) - Host - Spike *''GT Academy'' (2012–2014) – Host – Spike TV *'' Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge'' (2016–2017 ) – Host – NBC *''

'' (2016–2017) – Host – CNBC