Jason Duane Jones (born May 23, 1986) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was drafted by the

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 ...

in the second round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

and also played for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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 ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

Early years

Jones attended

Southfield-Lathrup High School Southfield-Lathrup High School was a senior high school in Lathrup Village, Michigan, United States. It was the second oldest of three high schools in the Southfield Public Schools district, the oldest being Southfield High School, and the young ...

Lathrup Village, Michigan Lathrup Village ( ) is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Per of the 2020 census, the population was 4,088. This city is surrounded by the city of Southfield. The I-696 / Reuther Freeway goes through nearly the east–west ...

and enjoyed an outstanding prep career as a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

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 ...

player. He was named first-team All-Oakland Athletic Association as a senior, recording 27

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 ...

, six sacks, four forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...

s and seven

interception 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 ...

s, three of which were returned for

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He also

caught Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball h ...

25 passes for 395 yards and eight touchdowns as a receiver. ''

The Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the '' Detroit Tribune'' on Februa ...

'' named him the 44th-best player on the Blue Chip list in the state of Michigan, as he also added All-Metro North honors. Jones is the younger brother of retired American Professional

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 ...

Player Brian LaWan Alexander. Also, Jones older brother, Michael, played football at Alabama State and other brother, Jamar, works at the White House as a Secret Service uniformed police officier.

College career

Jones played

for

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

. As a senior (2007), Jones received third-team All-American and first-team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

honors. He played in all 12 games with 11 starts and finished fourth on the team with 70 tackles. He tied for seventh in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

with a career-high 19.5 stops for losses. He added 10 quarterback pressures, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble while breaking up three passes and blocking a kick. Selected to play in the

2008 Senior Bowl The 2008 Senior Bowl was a college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2007 college football season and prospects in the 2008 NFL Draft. The 59th edition of the Senior Bowl was played on January 26, 2008, at 3 p.m. EST at Ladd– ...

All-Star Game and finished with three tackles, one sack for 14 yards and one forced fumble. Jones was named the recipient of the Harold E. Sponberg Award as the team's top down lineman scholar-athlete.

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Jason Jones was drafted in the second round (54th overall) by the

in the

. He started against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in week 16 of the 2008 season as a result of injuries to

Albert Haynesworth Albert George Haynesworth III (born June 17, 1981) is a former American football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Tennessee and was selected by the ...

and

Kyle Vanden Bosch Kyle Dale Vanden Bosch (born November 17, 1978) is a former American football defensive end who played over ten years in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Nebraska, and was drafted by the Arizona ...

. In thirteen games during the regular season, Jones totaled 31 tackles and 5 sacks. He was particularly impressive in his week 16 game against the Steelers when his 3.5 sacks, 5 tackles, and 3 forced fumbles made him a candidate for Defensive Player of the Week. Jones got ejected from a Week 2 game versus 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 ...

. Jones was placed on injured reserve on December 9, 2009 due to a shoulder injury.

Seattle Seahawks

On March 17, 2012, Jones signed a one-year deal with the

Detroit Lions

On March 13, 2013, Jones signed a three-year deal with the

. On September 22, 2013 (Week 3 of the 2013 NFL Season), Jones suffered a season ending knee injury.

Miami Dolphins

Jones had signed a one-year deal with the

on May 13, 2016. He was suspended for two games on November 21, 2016 for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. On January 6, 2017, Jones was released by the Dolphins.

New Orleans Saints

On August 12, 2017, Jones was signed by the

. On August 29, 2017, he was released by the Saints.

Charity work

Jones is affiliated with the 501c3 Non-Profit Team Alexander Athletics Colorado Club Basketball Program. The organization is exclusively for charitable and educational purposes addressing its mission through programs and events. T.A.A. encourages a cross-cultural environment to stimulate conversation with the purpose of overcoming racial barriers, relations and networking to promote unity through athletics and sports.

References

External links

Eastern Michigan University Athletic PageTennessee Titans bioTeam Alexander Athletics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jason 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Detroit American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Eastern Michigan Eagles football players Tennessee Titans players Seattle Seahawks players Detroit Lions players Miami Dolphins players New Orleans Saints players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people