| No. 53, 54 | |||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1988-10-05)October 5, 1988 (age 37) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 248 lb (112 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Archbishop Moeller (Cincinnati, Ohio) | ||||||
| College | Michigan State (2007–2010) | ||||||
| NFL draft | 2011: 6th round, 185th overall pick | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Gregory M. Jones II (born October 5, 1988) is an American former professionalfootballlinebacker who played in theNational Football League (NFL) andCanadian Football League (CFL). He playedcollege football for theMichigan State Spartans, and was a two-timeAll-American selection. He was selected by theNew York Giants in the sixth round of the2011 NFL draft, and won theSuper Bowl XLVI with them. He was also a member of theJacksonville Jaguars andTennessee Titans of the NFL, theToronto Argonauts andSaskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL, and theLas Vegas Locomotives of theUnited Football League (UFL).
Jones was born inCincinnati, Ohio. He attendedArchbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati. He was a two-time All-Greater Catholic League and PrepStar's All-Midwest Team selection for coachBob Crable. As a junior in 2005, he had 13 tackles for losses, including three sacks. As a senior in 2006 he had 71tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss and 11.5sacks.
Jones was rated as a three-star recruit byRivals.com and was ranked as the 34th best outside linebacker in his class.[2]Scout.com had him ranked as the 24th best strong side linebacker.[3]
Jones received an athletic scholarship to attendMichigan State University, where he played for theMichigan State Spartans football team from 2007 to 2010.
As atrue freshman in 2007, Jones was named a first-teamFreshman All-American by theFootball Writers Association of America,Sporting News,CollegeFootballNews.com,Rivals.com andScout.com. He led the Spartans with 78 tackles, becoming the first true freshman to lead the team in tackles sinceDan Bass in 1976. The 78 tackles also ranked first among Big Ten freshmen. In his first career start, he had eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for losses against Northwestern. He also had four sacks.
As a sophomore in 2008, Jones was named first-teamAll-Big Ten by the head coaches and second-team pick by the media. He was the first Spartan linebacker to earn All-Big ten first-team since Josh Thornhill in 2001. Jones was also named to Collegefootballnews.com's all sophomore team. He was awarded Michigan State's Outstanding Underclass Back award. He started all 13 games, again leading the team in tackles with 127 and had two sacks.
As a junior in 2009, Jones recorded 154 tackles and nine sacks and was recognized as a consensus first-teamAll-American.[4][5] The 154 tackles led the team for the third straight year and was most in the Big Ten. Jones was also the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Spartan to earn the honor. He earned first-team All-Big Ten for the second consecutive year.
As a senior in 2010, Jones had 98 tackles, a sack and twointerceptions. He was named a first-team All-Big Ten selection for the third consecutive year, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American.[5]
TheNew York Giants selected Jones in the sixth round (185th overall pick) of the2011 NFL draft.[6] Jones became the Giants' starting middle linebacker after a season-ending injury toJonathan Goff. He was waived on August 31, 2012.
Jones briefly played for theLas Vegas Locomotives of theUnited Football League, but left when the team didn't pay him, before the league folded.[7]
Jones signed with theJacksonville Jaguars on November 12, 2012. Battling through an ankle injury all season, he was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a broken leg on December 24.[7] He was released on May 6, 2013.[7][8]
On May 15, 2013, Jones signed with theTennessee Titans.[9] After missing several preseason games with an ankle injury, he was waived/injured by the Titans on August 26, 2013.[7][10][11] On August 27, 2013, he cleared waivers and was placed on the Titans' reserve/injured list. On August 31, 2013, he was waived from reserve/injured with an injury settlement.
He signed with theToronto Argonauts on March 27, 2014, choosing the Argonauts over theMontreal Alouettes.[7][12]
Jones was signed by theSaskatchewan Roughriders on February 10, 2016.[13]
Jones proposed to his girlfriend, Mandy Piechowski, a former Michigan State women's basketball player, on the field after the Giants wonSuper Bowl XLVI, and they married in July 2013.[7][14][15] Their daughter Ava was born in 2014.[7]Jones graduated from Michigan State University in May 2015.[16]