Donovan Peoples-Jones (born February 19, 1999), also known as "DPJ", is an

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 ...

wide receiver and

return specialist 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 ...

for 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 ( ...

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 ...

(NFL). 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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and was drafted by the Browns in the sixth round of the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Early life

Donovan Peoples-Jones was born in Detroit on February 19, 1999, to Roslyn Peoples and Eddie Jones. He attended

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a public high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States.

where he was a five-star recruit and rated as the best wide receiver recruit from the state of Michigan since Charles Rogers in 2000. Peoples-Jones was named the 2016 Michigan High School Football Player of the Year by MLive Media Group on Nov. 22, 2016. As a senior at Cass Tech, Peoples-Jones ha
60 receptions for 1,071 yards and 17 touchdowns
On December 15, 2016, he committed to play for 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 ...

in a nationally televised press conference on ESPN2.

College career

After committing to Michigan, Peoples-Jones enrolled early in January 2017. After watching Peoples-Jones and fellow freshman

Tarik Black Tarik Bernard Black (; born November 22, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. He has previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets in the Nation ...

in spring practice, offensive lineman

Mason Cole Mason Cole (born March 28, 1996) is an American football center for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2018 NFL ...

predicted the pair were "going to be unbelievable." On September 2, 2017, Peoples-Jones started at punt returner as a true freshman in Michigan's season opener against

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He returned five punts for 40 yards, including an 18-yard return. In his second game, he ran 44 yards on a jet sweep in the first quarter against

Cincinnati 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 ...

. In his third game, he returned two punts for 104 yards, including a 79-yard return for a touchdown in the third quarter against

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

. His 79-yard return for a touchdown was the longest by any Michigan punt returner since

Steve Breaston Steven William Breaston (born August 20, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan. Breaston also played for the K ...

went 83 yards against Indiana in 2006. He finished with the second-most return attempts and eighth-most return yards in a single season by a Wolverine, and also caught 22 passes for 277 yards. Following an outstanding freshman season, he was named a Freshman All-American by

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

and 247 Sports, and was named Michigan's Rookie of the Year. During the 2018 season, Peoples-Jones led the team with 39 receptions, for 541 yards and seven touchdowns. Peoples-Jones ranked second in the Big Ten in punt return average (10.1) among players with 10 returns or more, and his 64 career return attempts ranks fourth in Michigan program history. On October 20, 2018, in a rivalry game against Michigan State, Peoples-Jones had a career-long reception of 79 yards for a touchdown. Following the season, he was named to the All-Big Ten special teams third-team, by both the coaches and media, and the All-Big Ten offensive teams third-team by coaches. Following the 2019 season, he was named to the All-Big Ten special teams third-team by the media, and the All-Big Ten offensive team honorable mention by the media. On January 4, 2020, Peoples-Jones announced he would forgo his final season of eligibility to enter the 2020 NFL draft.

College statistics

Professional career

Peoples-Jones was drafted by the

in the sixth round with the 187th overall pick of the

. Peoples-Jones signed his rookie contract with the Browns on May 20, 2020.

2020 season

On October 25, 2020, Peoples-Jones caught three passes for 56 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left in the game during the 37–34 victory over 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 Week 7. In Week 13 against the Tennessee Titans, Peoples-Jones recorded two catches for 92 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown, during the 41–35 win. In Week 14 against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

, Peoples-Jones recorded three catches for 74 yards and a two-point conversion. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on December 26, 2020, and activated on December 31.

2021 season

On October 17, 2021, in Week 6, Peoples-Jones caught 4 passes for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, including a Hail-Mary at the end of the first half. The Browns would lose 37-14. In Week 14, Peoples-Jones caught 5 passes for 90 yards in a 24–22 win over the division rival

2022 season

In Week 13, Peoples-Jones had a 76-yard punt return touchdown in a 27–14 win over the Texans, earning AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peoples-Jones, Donovan 1999 births Living people American football wide receivers Michigan Wolverines football players Cass Technical High School alumni Players of American football from Detroit Cleveland Browns players