Markus Jones (born January 10, 1996) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. He previously played in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

and the

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

. Jones played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Angelo State University Angelo State University is a public university in San Angelo, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1928 as San Angelo College. It gained university status and awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and graduate degrees in 1969, the s ...

Rams In engineering, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety (RAMS)Crowley High School Eagles with 90 tackles and 7 sacks during his senior season. He also played basketball and competed in track and field, recording a 6'8'' high jump in 2014.

College career

Jones signed with the Division II

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the South Central states, with schools in Texas ...

Angelo State Rams The Angelo State Rams, also known as ASU Rams, are the athletic teams that represent Angelo State University, located in San Angelo, Texas, in intercollegiate sports at the NCAA Division II, Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

in 2014 as a defensive end, earning numerous accolades over the course of his collegiate career. As a senior, Jones recorded 84 tackles including 36.5 tackles for loss, the highest number recorded across all divisions of NCAA football. Jones also made 17.5 sacks in 2018, breaking the Angelo State sack record with a total of 37 career sacks, in addition to two blocked kicks and four forced fumbles. In January 2019, Jones competed in the annual

East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

after being named the 2018 winner of the

Gene Upshaw Award The Gene Upshaw Award is awarded to the best lineman, offensive or defensive, in NCAA Division II college football. The award is presented by the Manheim Touchdown Club and is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The award ...

as the best offensive or defensive lineman in Division II football. During practices, Jones received significant attention after pushing offensive tackle Paul Adams to the ground during one-on-one drills.

Professional career

After the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

, Jones signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. Following an injury to

Ravens Ravens may refer to: * Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' of passerine birds Sports * Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana * Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise * B ...

quarterback

Robert Griffin III Robert Lee Griffin III (born February 12, 1990), nicknamed RGIII or RG3, is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, most notably with the Washington Redskins. He ...

, Jones was waived and subsequently claimed off waivers by the

Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. They are the third ...

. Jones made a strong preseason showing, including two back-to-back turnover plays versus the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. Jones did not make the Packers roster at the end of the preseason. In October 2019, Jones was selected in round 8 of 30 during open portion of the 2020 XFL Draft by the St. Louis BattleHawks. Following the XFL draft, Jones spent a December 2019 mini-camp with the BattleHawks before being traded by St. Louis to the

Dallas Renegades The Arlington Renegades are a professional American football team based in Arlington, Texas. The Renegades compete in the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL) as a member of the XFL Conference. The team was founded as the D ...

at the end of mini-camp. Following the XFL's January 2020 league-wide training camp in Houston, Jones was waived by the Renegades and assigned to the XFL's Team 9 practice squad, also in Dallas, Texas where he trained until the XFL suspended operations during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020. Jones signed with 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 19 ...

of the CFL on December 17, 2020. He was released on July 20, 2021.

Personal life

Jones graduated from

in December 2018 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

Exercise Science Exercise physiology is the physiology of physical exercise. It is one of the allied health professions, and involves the study of the acute responses and chronic adaptations to exercise. Exercise physiologists are the highest qualified exercise ...

and minors in

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. He is married to a fellow Angelo State graduate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Markus 1996 births Living people American football linebackers Angelo State Rams football players Baltimore Ravens players Green Bay Packers players St. Louis Battlehawks players Dallas Renegades players Team 9 players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Crowley High School (Texas) alumni Players of American football from Texas