Jones: 'I'm going to be on somebody's team'

By JASON WILDE

GREEN BAY – When you’ve lived the life James Jones has lived – and overcome the hardships he’s overcome – a little uncertainty about your NFL employment future isn’t all that difficult to endure.

Especially when, as the Green Bay Packers free-agent wide receiver pointed out Tuesday, you know if you’re going to have a job, you just don’t know where.

“To be honest, I just approach it as, I’m just truly blessed that after the lockout, I’m going to be on somebody’s team – whether it’s the Packers or any other team,” Jones said during a visit to Green and Gold Today on ESPNMilwaukee.com and ESPNMadison.com Tuesday morning. “There’s a lot of people out there that when the lockout’s off, they don’t know if they’re going to be able to play football. I know when the lockout’s over, I’m going to be able to play football. And that’s all I can ask for. I love Green Bay, I love playing football, so wherever it’s at, I’m just going to have some fun.”


The odds of Jones – a 2007 third-round pick who has had his share of ups and downs in his time in Green Bay – returning to the Packers when free agency opens appear somewhat remote. With the free agency rules expected to return to the 2009 guidelines – granting Jones unrestricted status as a four-year veteran – once the lockout is resolved, it seems likely that a receiver-poor team will pay him significant money and give him a chance to start.

In 65 career games and 18 starts (including playoffs), Jones has caught 166 passes for 2,305 yards and 16 touchdowns. Last season was his most productive, with 50 catches for 679 yards and five touchdowns in 16 regular-season games and 11 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the Packers’ four postseason games, including Super Bowl XLV.

But with Jordy Nelson’s late-season emergence and impending free agency after the 2011 season, along with the selection of receiver/returner Randall Cobb in the second round of the April draft and Pro Bowl receiver Greg Jennings only signed through 2012, it’s doubtful the Packers would get into a bidding war for Jones, even if 36-year-old veteran Donald Driver is in decline. Plus, Jones is one of a dozen Packers free agents, and the team won’t be able to re-sign everyone.

And Jones understands that. Having spent much of his childhood living in homeless shelters, Jones has always kept football in perspective. Whether it’s been after crucial dropped passes of potential touchdowns or his contract situation, he takes his job seriously but also is one of the locker room’s happy-go-lucky players and has shown a propensity for bouncing back after mistakes.

“When you grow up in homeless shelters, your life isn’t always peaches and cream. You go through a lot of ups and downs, and you learn how to handle situations,” Jones said. “You know that in life, it’s not always going to be perfect, and in football it’s not always going to be perfect. And you’ve got to get up and do it again and keep on working. That’s how I live my life. With football, I may drop a ball, but I’ll come back and keep on fighting.

“Bad things are going to happen in your career. If you’re a quarterback, you’re going to throw some interceptions; if you’re a running back, you’re going to fumble; if you’re a receiver, you’re going to drop some balls. But you have to get up and keep fighting.”

Jones’ childhood experience also influences his off-the-field work. As part of the foundation he founded with his wife Tamika, Love Jones 4 Kids, he holds a free football camp in San Jose, Calif., every offseason. Last weekend, more than 200 kids took part in the camp, which Jones has financed himself each of its three years.

“When I first got in the league, I made an emphasis on giving back,” Jones said. “Everybody in the National Football League is blessed with a unique talent to be able to play this game, but I believe it’s bigger than that. You’ve got to get out there and help people. Not just dish out money, but be hands-on and be a part of the kids’ lives and change some lives.

“It’s a free football camp, because the way I grew up, living in homeless shelters and things like that, my mother never had money to pay for me to go to a camp. If she did have money, it was for us to survive. I always said if I made it, anything I’d do would be free.”

Jones intends to continue that approach, whether it’s in Green Bay or elsewhere. And while he doesn’t know where that’ll be, he knows this: He’s ready for a bigger role as a starter.

“I definitely feel like I’m ready,” Jones said. “I work hard. I’m just hoping for the opportunity, whether it’s in green bay or somewhere else. I feel like I have the ability to be one of those guys, to be a starter. I’m just excited about the opportunity, wherever it might be.”

And if that’s not in Green Bay, Jones said the excitement of winning Super Bowl XLV with Jennings, Driver, Nelson and quarterback Aaron Rodgers won’t necessarily make moving on easier.

“I wouldn’t say that. I’m real close with those dudes. We’ve become a family; we’ve built a lot of great friendships,” Jones said. “If I was to go, it definitely would be hard because those dudes are like brothers to me.

“It’s not going to be easy. I’m glad we were able to do it together, win a Super Bowl, if I was to go. We were able to share that together. But it would be hard. But we all understand it’s a business, we all have families we have to take care of. If I’m blessed to stay in Green Bay, I’m blessed to stay there. And if I’m blessed to go somewhere else, I’m just happy to play football.”

Listen to Jason Wilde every weekday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on “Green & Gold Today,” and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jasonjwilde.

540ESPNMilwaukee wrote: