Don Jones II (born May 14, 1990) 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 ...
free safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
. 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 ...
at
Arkansas State
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...
.
Early years
Played running back and defensive back for the Hazlewood Golden Bears in Town Creek, Alabama, coached by Aaron Goode. He starred as a guard on the basketball team, coached by Shane Childress. As a senior, Jones won the Class 1A 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters in track.
Jones ran for 1,869 yards and 22 touchdowns his senior year and had scholarship offers from 10 Division I schools. In July 2007, before his senior year, Jones was timed at 4.38 in a 40-yard dash at the
Alabama-Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a public research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established in 1936, the institution became a four-year campus in 1966 and a fully autonomous univ ...
football camp.
Hazlewood High School also has produced former NFL players
Antonio Langham
Collie Antonio Langham (born July 31, 1972) is an American former college and professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the University of Alabama, a ...
,
Kerry Goode,
Chris Goode,
Kalvin Pearson
Kalvin Pearson (born October 22, 1978) is a former American football safety. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at Grambling.
Early years
Pearson attended Hazlewood High School in ...
, Joe Manley, and
Bob Penchion
Robert Earl Penchion (born August 11, 1949) is a former professional American football player who played in five National Football League (NFL) seasons from 1972 to 1976 for the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. He played co ...
.
College career
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
Arkansas State Red Wolves
The Arkansas State Red Wolves are the athletic teams of Arkansas State University. They are a member of the Sun Belt Conference in all sports except women's bowling, a sport not sponsored by that league, competing at the National Collegiate Athleti ...
, where he started as a running back for head coach
Steve Roberts. While with the Red Wolves, Jones rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns on 24 attempts and had 12 catches for 146 yards and a score as a freshman in 2009.
He then transferred to
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) is a public community college with its main campus in Perkinston, Mississippi. It was founded as Harrison County Agricultural High School in 1912. MGCCC has three campuses and six centers: The ma ...
, where he played safety. He then returned to Arkansas State in 2011, where he moved to defensive back and linebacker.
Professional career
Miami Dolphins
Jones was selected in the seventh round (250th overall) by 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 ...
. His NFL.com draft profile grade was 50.2
Don Jones made a game-changing play for the Dolphins on September 22, 2013, against the
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
in the Dolphins' first home game of the season. Covering a punt on special teams, Jones forced a fumble when he hit punt returner
Harry Douglas
Harry Douglas IV (born September 16, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football at Louisville.
Douglas was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in ...
with 1:48 left in the third quarter. The Dolphins, trailing at the time 20-13, recovered the loose ball and scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive and went on to win 27-23. The victory improved the Dolphins' record to 3-0. He played on the special teams in all 16 regular-season games for the Dolphins, who finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs.
On December 24, 2013, Jones was named to the Professional Football Writers Association's All-Rookie Team as the kick gunner on special teams.
On
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, Jones wrote "Horrible" and "OMG" shortly after the drafting of
Michael Sam
Michael Alan Sam Jr. (born January 7, 1990) is an American professional football defensive lineman for the Barcelona Dragons in the European League of Football. A defensive end, Sam played college football for the Missouri Tigers and was drafted ...
by the
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994.
The arri ...
and was promptly fined by the Dolphins and suspended from team activities. He was required to undergo educational training before he can return to the team. Jones was reinstated on May 19, 2014 after completing the training.
Jones was waived by the Dolphins on August 31, 2014.
New England Patriots
The
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
claimed Jones off waivers on September 1, 2014. He was cut on
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...
(November 27).
Second stint with the Miami Dolphins
Jones signed 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 ...
on November 28, 2014.
New Orleans Saints
Jones was signed to 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 ...
practice squad on September 7, 2015, and was promoted to the active roster five days later. After appearing in five games on special teams, he was waived on October 13.
Cleveland Browns
Jones was claimed off waivers by the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
on October 14, 2015.
On March 17, 2016, Jones signed a one-year contract with the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...
worth $1,671,000. He was released on October 4, 2016.
Houston Texans
On October 19, 2016, Jones was signed by the
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...
.
San Francisco 49ers
On March 10, 2017, Jones signed a two-year contract with the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
. He was placed on injured reserve on September 2, 2017 after suffering an ACL injury.
On July 25, 2018, Jones was waived by the 49ers.
Personal life
In April 2018, Jones returned to Lawrence County, Alabama, to escort a special needs student to her senior prom.
References
External links
Arkansas State bio*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Don
1990 births
American football safeties
Arkansas State Red Wolves football players
Cleveland Browns players
Houston Texans players
Living people
Miami Dolphins players
Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs football players
New England Patriots players
New Orleans Saints players
People from Town Creek, Alabama
Players of American football from Alabama
San Francisco 49ers players