Gregory M. Jones II (born October 5, 1988) 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

for

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, and was a two-time All-American. 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. ...

selected him in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL Draft, and he was a member of the Giants'

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

championship team against 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 ...

following the 2011 season. He has also played for the NFL's

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

and

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

, the CFL's

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 ...

and the UFL's

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League. The team played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the Unive ...

Early years

Jones was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio 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 ...

. He attended

Archbishop Moeller High School Moeller High School ( ), known as Moeller, is a private, all-male, college-preparatory high school in the suburbs of Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, Ohio. It is currently one of four all-male Catholic high schools in the Cincinnati area. Hist ...

in Cincinnati. He was a two-time All-Greater Catholic League and PrepStar's All-Midwest Team selection for coach

Bob Crable Robert Edward Crable (born September 22, 1959) is an American former college and professional American football, football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1980s. He played college foot ...

. As a junior in 2005, he had 13 tackles for losses, including three sacks. As a senior in 2006 he had 71

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 ...

, 23.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. Jones was rated as a three-star recruit by

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and was ranked as the 34th best outside linebacker in his class.

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had him ranked as the 24th best strong side linebacker.

College career

Jones received an athletic scholarship to attend

, where he played for the

Michigan State Spartans football The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University (MSU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Spartans are members of the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State claims a ...

team from 2007 to 2010.

2007

As a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2007, Jones was named a first-team

Freshman All-American Underclass All-American is an honorific for high school and college athletes for excellence in competition. The athletes recognized with this title are considered the best players of a specific season in their sport that are members of a given cla ...

by the

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 ...

, ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'', CollegeFootballNews.com,

and

. He led the Spartans with 78 tackles, becoming the first true freshman to lead the team in tackles since

Dan Bass Danny Bass (born March 31, 1958) is a former linebacker for the Toronto Argonauts in 1980, Calgary Stampeders from 1981–1983 and the Edmonton Eskimos from 1984-1991 of the Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: ...

in 1976. The 78 tackles also ranked first among Big Ten freshmen. In his first career start, he had eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for losses against Northwestern. He also had four sacks.

2008

As a sophomore in 2008, Jones was named first-team 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 ...

by the head coaches and second-team pick by the media. He was the first Spartan linebacker to earn All-Big ten first-team since Josh Thornhill in 2001. Jones was also named to Collegefootballnews.com's all sophomore team. He was awarded Michigan State's Outstanding Underclass Back award. He started all 13 games, again leading the team in tackles with 127 and had two sacks.

2009

As a junior in 2009, Jones recorded 154 tackles and nine sacks and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American.''2011 NCAA Football Records Book''
Award Winners
National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, p. 12 (2011). Retrieved June 30, 2012. The 154 tackles led the team for the third straight year and was most in the Big Ten. Jones was also the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Spartan to earn the honor. He earned first-team All-Big Ten for the second consecutive year.

2010

As a senior in 2010, Jones had 98 tackles, a sack and two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. He was named a first-team All-Big Ten selection for the third consecutive year, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American.

Professional career

New York Giants

The

selected Jones in the sixth round (185th overall pick) of the 2011 NFL Draft. Jones became the Giants' starting middle linebacker after a season-ending injury to

Jonathan Goff Jonathan Goff (born December 12, 1985) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Vanderbilt. H ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2012.

Las Vegas Locomotive

Jones briefly played for the

of the UFL, but left when the team didn't pay him, before the league folded.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Jones signed with the

on November 12, 2012. Battling through an ankle injury all season, he was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a broken leg on December 24. He was released on May 6, 2013.

Tennessee Titans

On May 15, 2013, Jones signed with the

. After missing several preseason games with an ankle injury, he was waived/injured by the Titans on August 26, 2013. On August 27, 2013, he cleared waivers and was placed on the Titans' reserve/injured list. On August 31, 2013, he was waived from reserve/injured with an injury settlement.

Toronto Argonauts

He signed with the

on March 27, 2014, choosing the Argonauts over the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Jones was signed by the

on February 10, 2016.

Personal life

Jones proposed to his girlfriend, Mandy Piechowski, a former Michigan State women's basketball player, on the field after the Giants won Super Bowl XLVI, and they married in July 2013.Former MSU Star Greg Jones turns to Canada
/ref> Their daughter Ava was born in 2014. Jones graduated from Michigan State University in May 2015.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Greg 1988 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers American players of Canadian football Jacksonville Jaguars players Michigan State Spartans football players New York Giants players Players of American football from Cincinnati Players of Canadian football from Cincinnati Saskatchewan Roughriders players Tennessee Titans players Toronto Argonauts players