AFL Has Been a Wild Ride for Andre Jones
July 25, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Milwaukee Mustangs News Release
Andre Jones sits on the sidelines nonchalantly flipping a football in the air during a Mustangs practice at the Brookfield Indoor Soccer Complex. His hands effortlessly find the spiraling pigskin on its way down and repeat the process.
"I always have a football in my hands," explains Jones. "I can't seem to put one down."
That explains a lot. It illustrates why Jones gets his hands on a lot of footballs despite being a defensive player in a league where offense is king.
In his first AFL season, Jones has been outstanding, and he's endured a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. The University of Akron product has played in 12 games and is fourth in the league with 10 interceptions. Two of his picks went for touchdowns. He is a leader on a defense that ranks among the best in the AFL.
Not bad for a guy who was working at a recreation center in the DC area last year and, despite being invited to OTAs with the Kansas City Chiefs, had an uncertain pro football future.
"I drove up to Pittsburgh for workout," says Jones. "I killed the workout but I guess they already knew who they wanted on the roster. On the way back home I got a call from (Mustangs defensive coordinator Cedrick Walker)."
In just his third game, against the same Pittsburgh team that declined to sign him, Jones picked off a pass and returned it 54 yards for a score. He had interceptions in six of his first eight games and was named the league's defensive player of the week in Week 8 after picking off a pass, forcing two fumbles, and recording six tackles against the Tampa Bay Storm.
"I started off a little slow (trying to get) used to the angles of the field," explains Jones. "Once I started studying tape with coach and he broke everything down, the game slowed down. It's really fast. It's an offensive game. I take pride just like the coaches and the team to be the best defense in the league. I practice, then I go home and watch tape, and talk to my family. I wake up and it's the same thing next day."
Jones' work ethic and stellar play was rewarded when he was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League in early June. But his stay in the CFL didn't last, and Jones was back on the team two weeks later. Unfortunately for Jones and the Mustangs, his rookie AFL season turn another unexpected turn when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Pittsburgh on June 25.
"I went over the wall with a receiver," says Jones. "It was the second time I ran into the wall this year and it was the second time I got hurt."
Added Walker: "(Injuries) are part of the game. (Jones) has a positive attitude. Good things happen to good people, and he's a good person. He comes from a good family. His mom is at almost every game and I know that she instilled wisdom and power in him."
For now, Jones is concentrating on rehabbing a surgically repaired shoulder. But it certainly looks like there's more professional football on the horizon.
"If the NFL is in my future or the CFL, I would go," says Jones. "But to be honest I kind of like (the AFL).
You've got people like me and some of the veterans that are here just to play football. That's why I'm here." Rehab may take four to six months. But as he twirls a football, Jones explains matter-of-factly, "I don't think it'll take that long." It's hard to count Andre Jones out.
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Arena Football League Stories from July 25, 2011
- AFL Has Been a Wild Ride for Andre Jones - Milwaukee Mustangs
- Damian Harrell: As Much a Part of the AFL as Padded Walls and High Scores - Milwaukee Mustangs
- Predators DB Rayshaun Kizer Sets New AFL Interceptions Mark - Orlando Predators
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