Zero2Cool
15 years ago
Web Page Name 


[img_r]http://media.jsonline.com/images/199*148/jones121209.jpg[/img_r]If there are words to best describe Brad Jones' journey to the National Football League - from playing soccer and the viola as a kid in East Lansing, Mich., to taking courses in astrophysics at the University of Colorado, and going from injured seventh-round pick to rookie Green Bay Packers starter in a matter of months - it would be these two:

Why not?

Who says you can't play all kinds of sports and still want to be a football player? Who says you can't accept a football scholarship and take education seriously? Who says you can't replace a player like Aaron Kampman during a critical playoff run and play linebacker like the game isn't too big for you?

It probably would be the same people who'd say you're crazy for wanting to travel to outer space, which is exactly what Jones has thought about doing.

"The plan was to be an astronaut coming out of high school," Jones said after a recent practice. "I didn't think it was that deep. Why not? I don't understand. If you want to do it, why not? I never once thought there was anything unattainable.

"From the time when I was little, I think I've had the same kind of mentality: Why couldn't I do that?"

It's the kind of outlook that explains why Jones will be starting at left outside linebacker Sunday against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. By almost any measure, there's no way a player who was that close to not being drafted (taken 218th overall) should be starting for a team making a heated run for the playoffs.

Last week against Baltimore, Jones went from a guy playing his position solidly to a guy capable of making a play when it counts. He is not an elite athlete by NFL standards, but as he showed when he beat first-round pick Michael Oher for a sack Monday night, he plays a lot faster in pads than he runs 40-yard dashes.

Physically, Jones has more flexibility than Kampman, a former defensive lineman, and he can contort himself so he can get under or around blocks. But he is still developing.

"There's something about starting on the bottom rung and having to fight every step of the way," Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. "We saw some things at training camp that we liked; you never know when a guy is a late-round draft pick, you hope that you see some redeeming qualities, is what you hope. And then you take and build on that.

"He's one of those guys that's taken advantage of his opportunity. Fortunately for us, he's been able to go in and play well."

Clearly, Jones is no ordinary guy. Never has been, never will be.

Just ask his college roommate, wide receiver Pat Williams, a fellow rookie and member of the Packers' practice squad.

"You kind of group people together - (this guy is) kind of reserved or he's kind of outgoing," Williams said. "Brad has his own group. His first year, his major was aerospace or aeroscience or something like that.

" 'What are you going to do with that?'

" 'I want to be an astronaut.'

"You'd be laughing and he'd say, 'I'm serious.'

"He's so smart. You come out of a conversation with him and you think he's crazy, he's nuts. But then you sit down with him and he's intellectual. He's a good person. I don't know how to explain it. I wish you could be around some of the moments we had."

To understand how Jones has become the person he is, you have to consider his upbringing.

His grandfather lived in St. Louis and owned several businesses in rough and tumble East St. Louis, Ill. Rather than let his son, Don, attend school closer to home, he sent him to public school in East St. Louis so he would get a sense of how less fortunate people lived.

Don became a star linebacker in East St. Louis, attended Indiana University (1974-'78) on a football scholarship and tried out with the Detroit Lions before becoming a school administrator. He regretted his decision not to further pursue an NFL career, but to say he has lived through the athletic pursuits of his children would not be accurate.

He and his wife, Fawn, merely became guidance counselors. Whatever their six children wanted to do, they helped them pursue it. Not that Don didn't do a little bit of steering.

Brad was about 8 years old when Don tried to quantify what great linebacker play was with a snippet of an NFL game he had taped from TV. Brad and his older brother, Preston, were shown the same play over and over.

"It was just a piece of film I had of Ray Nitschke against the Baltimore Colts tackling Lenny Moore near the sideline," Don Jones said. "Nitschke's in the middle and then all of a sudden out of nowhere he shows up in the frame. But he doesn't just get there, he makes the tackle.

"That's a pretty good player he's tackling, and he doesn't gain a yard. I think it's a prime example of how to play linebacker."

Despite making his sons watch that tape, he did not allow them to play football until they were older. They played soccer first. He would not let them lift weights until they were 14 or 15, and if they did lift, they had to go swimming afterward to stretch out their muscles.

All six of the Jones children - ranging from a sister in her 30s (she attended USC) and a sister who is 6 - take their education seriously. Preston played football at Arizona State - and like Brad, got his degree - and younger brother Cameron attends Wisconsin.

Since he was young, Brad's athletic ability was evident. But what impressed his parents was how he handled the adulation. He wasn't disrespectful, didn't get a big head, didn't get in trouble.

Don Jones remembers the day a woman with tears in her eyes stopped him in the grocery store and thanked him for Brad being so kind to her son, who was developmentally disabled and a target of other kids cruelty.

Don had absolutely no idea that Brad, who was a star athlete at the school, had taken the boy under his wing and made the others let him hang around.

People look at Brad and see an athlete and a scholar, but hes a good person, too, Don Jones said.

Brads high school coach, Jeff Smith, is a legend in Michigan. Retired now, he is a member of the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. In 39 years, he had a record of 293-93-2. He also coached track at East Lansing High, and his star performer in the 110 high hurdles was Brad Jones.

One day during football practice, he was particularly perturbed by the lack of effort by one of his linemen, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound kid with tons of potential. He grabbed him and started yelling at him.

I told him, You know whats going to happen? said Smith, a native of Kohler, Wis. Someday, youre going to be lying on the couch watching TV and youre going to see Brad Jones playing in the NFL. Right now, you cant carry his jock.

It was no surprise then that Jones was starting at outside linebacker when Smith attended the Packers-Lions game on Thanksgiving at Ford Field. What did strike Smith as he focused in on Jones every single play was that at 6-3 and 239 pounds, he was doing what he had done since high school: adapt to his surroundings.

I looked at what he did when he attacked someone, Smith said. He went low and piled it up. Im sure Capers told him to do that. That was impressive. I was impressed with how he was following the scheme.

One of the big mysteries surrounding Jones is how he lasted until the seventh round of the draft. His father said he talked to various agents and found out that the coaching staff at Colorado was not promoting Brad as a draftable player. Brad was recruited by Gary Barnett, but Barnett quit under fire after Brad's second year and was replaced by former Boise State coach Dan Hawkins.

Don Jones actually had encouraged Brad to go pro after his junior season, but Brad chose to stay in school and earned a degree in economics. An NFL scout confirmed Jones was not one of the players Colorado listed as a draftable player and that probably resulted in him lasting until the seventh round.

It did not deter him from thinking he could play in the NFL, however, just as a back injury suffered the first day of training camp didn't. Jones attended every practice, studied his playbook, studied film and then studied both some more.

"You have to make sure you hit the ground running when you come back," Jones said. "I can't have a misstep. I can't make it look like it was my first day. I can't be where they were on the first day. I knew I had to be at or beyond where the team was."

When he came back, he played well.

"I was making a ton of plays, I think that's why I wasn't too nervous," Jones said. "I can play football. And our team was good. If I'm doing good against them - I mean, we've got a great quarterback. If I'm tipping his passes and picking his passes off, what am I going to do with other quarterbacks? I was always like, 'I can transfer this over to the game.' "

Now a starter, and possibly the long-term answer at his position, the only question is whether he can develop into a premier player.

As Jones would say, why not?


UserPostedImage
mi_keys
15 years ago
I really like the looks of him so far. I hope he can keep it up. If he can, he would be a hell of a steal in the seventh round.

I'm also really impressed with his attitude and his work ethic. It's refreshing to see a guy finish his degree instead of cutting out early, especially when he was in a tough position with a coach that didn't recruit him (and evidently didn't rate him) and getting advice from his dad to go to the NFL.

Here's to him getting a couple sacks against da bears and continuing his development.
Born and bred a cheesehead
djcubez
15 years ago
His attitude is huge, add that to his intelligence and you can't go wrong. However, the biggest thing about Jones is the fact that he played the OLB role in the 3-4 all through college. He's been able to contribute right away because of this. Even though Capers runs a different version of the 3-4, Jones still came in with more knowledge of the position than Kampman which is huge. You can't deny that Kampman has more physical talent but I believe Jones has the right mindset for the position.
RaiderPride
15 years ago
Great Read...

Thank You for this post.

The best thing about being a fan of a team is knowing the history, make up, and route to the roster that each player took to get there.

It makes each player so much more than a player on the field for a true fan. That player/person becomes more than just statistics and how many tackles, catches, blocks, and effort he puts into every opportunity.

The greatest thing about Game Day on Sunday as a TRUE Fan is seeing a single play, by a non superstar, and knowing what, how long, and what it took to take to give that kid the opportunity to make that single play.

Knowing that route that kid took to get on the NFL field of play, and then appreciating that play.. Because as a fan of the team you read an article like this.

Thanks for posting this... Good stuff.
""People Will Probably Never Remember What You Said, And May Never Remember What You Did. However, People Will Always Remember How You Made Them Feel."
British
15 years ago
This is a truly impressive article.

Silverstein has clearly undertaken lengthy interviews with Jones' father, his college room mate and his High School coach. And he's not just picked up simple platitudes and bashed out a quick story. He's dug around and got some great quotes and great background information.

We often knock the Packer beat reporters (justifiably) but this is an excellent piece of journalism.

Jones appears to be a 7th round steal.

I was interested to see some analysis as to why he fell so far. The fact Colorado didnt promote him as draftable may explain it.
UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
beast (5h) : I'm confused, Pete Carroll and Brian Schottenheimer? When Todd Monken, Joe Brady, Kellen Moore, Kliff Kingsbury and Zac Robinson are availab
Zero2Cool (7h) : Any reason I'm catching a shot here about my intelligence?
Martha Careful (25-Jan) : thank you Mucky for sticking up for me
Martha Careful (25-Jan) : some of those people are smarter than you zero. However Pete Carroll is not
Mucky Tundra (24-Jan) : Rude!
beast (24-Jan) : Martha? 😋
Zero2Cool (24-Jan) : Raiders hired someone from the elderly home.
dfosterf (24-Jan) : I'm going with a combination of the two.
beast (24-Jan) : Either the Cowboys have no idea what they're doing, or they're targeting their former OC, currently the Eagles OC
Zero2Cool (23-Jan) : Fake news. Cowboys say no
Zero2Cool (23-Jan) : Mystery candidate in the Cowboys head coaching search believed to be Packers ST Coordinator Rich Bisaccia.
beast (23-Jan) : Also why do both NYC teams have absolutely horrible OL for over a decade?
beast (23-Jan) : I wonder why the Jets always hire defensive coaches to be head coach
Zero2Cool (22-Jan) : Still HC positions available out there. I wonder if Hafley pops up for one
Zero2Cool (22-Jan) : Trent Baalke is out as the Jaguars GM.
dfosterf (22-Jan) : Jeff Hafley would have been a better choice, fortunately they don't know that. Someone will figure that out next off season
Zero2Cool (22-Jan) : Aaron Glenn Planning To Take Jets HC Job
dfosterf (22-Jan) : Martha- C'est mon boulot! 😁
Zero2Cool (22-Jan) : Thank you
wpr (22-Jan) : Z, glad you are feeling better.
wpr (22-Jan) : My son and D-I-L work for UM. It's a way to pick on them.
Zero2Cool (22-Jan) : Thank you. I rarely get sick, and even more rarely sick to the point I can't work.
wpr (22-Jan) : Beast- back to yesterday, I CAN say OSU your have been Michigan IF the odds of making the playoffs were more urgent.
dfosterf (22-Jan) : Glad to hear you are feeling a bit better.
Zero2Cool (22-Jan) : I've been near death ill last several days, finally feel less dead and site issues.
Zero2Cool (22-Jan) : It is a big deal. This host is having issues. It's frustrating.
Martha Careful (22-Jan) : just kidding...it was down
Martha Careful (22-Jan) : you were blocked yesterday, due to a a recalcitrant demeanor yesterday in the penalty box for a recalcitrant demeanor
dfosterf (22-Jan) : Was that site shutdown on your end or mine? No big deal, just curious
beast (21-Jan) : That way teams like Indiana and SMU don't make the conference championships by simply avoiding all the other good teams in their own confere
beast (21-Jan) : Also, with these "Super Conferences" instead of a single conference champion, have 4 teams make a Conference playoffs.
beast (21-Jan) : Also in college football, is a bye week a good or bad thing?
Martha Careful (21-Jan) : The tournament format was fine. Seeding could use some work.
beast (21-Jan) : You can't assume Ohio State would of won the Michigan game...
beast (21-Jan) : Rankings were 1) Oregon 2) Georgia 3) Texas 4) Penn State 5) Notre Dame 6) Ohio State, none of the rest mattered
wpr (21-Jan) : Texas, ND and OSU would have been fighting for the final 2 slots.
wpr (21-Jan) : Oregon and Georgia were locks. Without the luxury of extra playoff berths, Ohios St would have been more focused on Michigan game.
wpr (21-Jan) : Zero, no. If there were only 4 teams Ohio State would have been one of them. Boise St and ASU would not have been selected.
Zero2Cool (21-Jan) : So that was 7 vs 8, that means in BCS they never would made it?
Martha Careful (21-Jan) : A great game. Give ND credit for coming back, although I am please with the outcome.
Mucky Tundra (21-Jan) : FG to make it academic
Mucky Tundra (21-Jan) : and there's the dagger
Mucky Tundra (21-Jan) : ooooo 8 point game with 4 minutes to go!
Mucky Tundra (21-Jan) : ooooooooohhhhhh he missed!
Mucky Tundra (21-Jan) : Ooooo that completion makes things VERY interesting
Mucky Tundra (21-Jan) : Game not over yet
beast (21-Jan) : Oh yeah, Georgia starting quarterback season ending elbow injury
beast (21-Jan) : Sadly something happened to Georgia... they should be playing in this game against Ohio State
beast (21-Jan) : I thought Ohio State and Texas were both better than Notre Dame & Penn State
Mucky Tundra (21-Jan) : Notre Lame getting rolled
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 3:25 PM
Vikings
Sunday, Jan 5 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Jan 12 @ 3:30 PM
Eagles
Recent Topics
8h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

25-Jan / Random Babble / Martha Careful

21-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

21-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

20-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

20-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / bboystyle

20-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

19-Jan / Random Babble / Martha Careful

18-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

17-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / bboystyle

17-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

17-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

16-Jan / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.