Markeysia Donta Jones (born August 27, 1972) 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 wi ...

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, ...

. He played college football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. He was drafted in the fourth round (125th overall) of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played for six 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 ...

(NFL) for the Steelers,

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

and

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 ...

and Chicago Bears.

High school career

Jones attended Maurice J. McDonough High School in

Pomfret, Maryland Pomfret is a census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 514. There are five properties in the area that are on the National Register of Historic Places. The origins of the sett ...

. While there he was an All-State and All-Metro

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

selection as a two-way starter on the football team. He played both linebacker and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. As a senior, he recorded seven receptions on offense. On defense, he recorded 172 total

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

, and 15 sacks. He was chosen to play in the

Big 33 Football Classic The Big 33 Football Classic is an all-star American football game featuring the top high-school football players in Pennsylvania. Played since 1957, the game is often described as the "Super Bowl of High School Football." Contests currently pit ...

in 1990. He was also the starting

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for his high school basketball team. He averaged 10 points-per-game. He also ran

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, recording a personal best of 1:58 in the

800 meters The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

run and 49 seconds in the

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

College career

Jones then earned a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

and attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

, where as a freshman in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, he

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after ...

. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

, as a redshirt freshman, he appeared in six games. He recorded eight tackles and one sack (that being

Gino Torretta Gino Louis Torretta (born August 10, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons. He played college football at the University of Miami, won the Heisman Trophy in 1992, and w ...

). As a redshirt sophomore in 1992, he served as a back-up at both outside linebacker positions, to starters Travis Hill and

Trev Alberts Trev Kendall AlbertsJim Offner '' Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier'', February 6, 2013, accessed July 8, 2013. (born August 8, 1970) is an American sports administrator and former football linebacker who is the director of athletics at University o ...

and occasionally David White. Jones appeared in all 12 games, recording 21 tackles (seven solo.), four tackles-for-loss, two sacks and six quarterback hurries. In

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, as a redshirt junior, he appeared in nine games (eight starts), missing three with a

sprained ankle A sprained ankle, also known as a twisted ankle or rolled ankle, is an injury where sprain occurs on one or more ligaments of the ankle. It is the most common injury to occur in ball sports, such as basketball, volleyball, football, and racquet s ...

. He recorded 25 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, one pass broken up and 10 quarterback hurries. As a redshirt senior in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, he started all 12 games. He recorded 52 tackles (23 solo.), 10 tackles-for-loss, five sacks, one forced fumble, two passes broken up and 22 quarterback hurries. For the season, he earned All- Big Eight. He graduated with a degree in accounting and business administration. In 2007, Jones was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Jones was selected in the fourth round (125th overall) in the 1995 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, he appeared in all 16 games and recorded three tackles for the eventual AFC champions. In 1996, he appeared in 15 games with two starts. He recorded 13 tackles (nine solo.) and one sack and one forced fumble. For the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

season, he appeared in all 16 games with four starts. He recorded 15 tackles (six solo.), one pass broken up, one fumble recovery. Prior to the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

season, on June 9, he re-signed with the Steelers. For the season, he appeared in all 16 games with three starts. He recorded 17 tackles (11 solo.) and three sacks. On February 12, 1999, Jones signed as an

unrestricted 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 ...

with the

. While with the Panthers, he competed with former Steelers linebacker Kevin Greene. For his lone season with the Panthers, Jones appeared in all 16 games. He recorded 21 tackles (18 solo.) and one fumble recovery and three passes broken up. He was cut by the Panthers on August 20, 2000, at the end of the preseason. On August 22, 2000, two days after cut by the Panthers, Jones signed a one-year contract with the

. For the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

, he appeared in 12 games and recorded eight tackles. On August 8, 2001, he was signed by the Chicago Bears, however, he was released 19 days later.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Donta 1972 births American football linebackers New Orleans Saints players Pittsburgh Steelers players Carolina Panthers players Chicago Bears players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Living people