Jon Alston (born June 4, 1983) is an American screenwriter, director, producer and former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player. He played as a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, 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 ...

(NFL). He has written and produced on critically acclaimed shows such as '' S.W.A.T.'' and '' All American''. His first feature-length film, ''

Red Butterfly Jon Alston (born June 4, 1983) is an American screenwriter, director, producer and former professional football player. He played as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He has written and produced on critically acclaimed shows su ...

'', debuted at the 23rd Annual St. Louis International Film Festival. His sophomore film, ''Augustus,'' has received 24 wins and five nominations since its debut in 2020, notably winning the Directorial Discovery Grand Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. Prior to filmmaking, Alston earned a football scholarship to

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

which led to a career in the NFL. He was selected by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

in the third round of the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

. Alston was also a member of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

; he retired in 2011. Alston later graduated from Stanford with a degree in Film and Media Studies before matriculating at USC's

School of Cinematic Arts The USC School of Cinematic Arts is an academic unit of the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. With a history that dates to the first years of talkies, the school descends from America's first program to confer a college degree in ...

Early life

Alston grew up in

Bastrop, Louisiana Bastrop is a city in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, Morehouse Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is the parish seat of Morehouse Parish. The population was 9,691 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 11,365 in 2010 United Sta ...

, but moved to

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

shortly before high school. He first played organized football in his freshman year of high school at

Loyola College Prep Loyola College Prep is a private Catholic coeducational high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, founded by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), but now operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shreveport. It is among the oldest functioning former Jesu ...

. He earned All-District honors in his sophomore, junior year, and All-State his senior year. As a linebacker, Alston registered 134 tackles and 21 stops for losses in his senior season. He played free safety, middle linebacker and tight end as a sophomore and started at running back as a freshman

Football career

College career

Alston went on to play college football for the

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

. In 43 games with the Cardinal, Alston started 27 times. He finished his career with 164 tackles (94 solos), 21 sacks and 29.5 stops for losses.

Professional career

Pre-draft

St. Louis Rams

Alston was selected in the third round (77th overall) of the

by the

. In 2006, he made 2 special teams tackles for the Rams. On September 1, 2007, he was released by the Rams.

Oakland Raiders

On September 3, 2007, Alston was signed to the

' practice squad. He was then promoted to the active roster after Travis Taylor was released. He played in 13 games in the 2007 season for the Raiders, recording 8 tackles and 1 forced fumble. On March 27, 2008, Alston was re-signed as an exclusive rights free agent by the Raiders for the 2008 season. After linebacker Robert Thomas was waived/injured on September 2, Alston switched from No. 94 to Thomas' No. 55. Thomas was then re-signed by the Raiders weeks later. On October 19, 2008, in a game against the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

, the Raiders were forced to punt on a 3 and out. However, longsnapper Jon Condo directly snapped the ball to Alston, who ran it for 22 yards on a fake punt play. In 2008, Alston led the Raiders in special teams tackles with 20 despite missing two games and starting 4 games at OLB. He ended the season with 34 total tackles and 1 pass defensed. Against the Chargers, Alston garnered a career-high of 11 total tackles including 9 on defense and 2 on special teams. Alston suffered a concussion and was placed on Injured Reserve on November 25, 2009.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On March 12, 2010, Alston signed with the

. Alston retired from the sport in 2011.

Film career

Alston's first film, ''

'' was independently produced. Alston cites the works of

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...

and

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of t ...

as influences on the film. ''Red Butterfly'' is a

postmodern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...

romantic tragedy in the style of

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is an Australian film director, producer, writer, and actor whose various projects extend from film and television into opera, theatre, music, and the recording industries. He is regarded by ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' and

Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, dramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological realism. His accolades include a Golden Lion ...

's ''

Requiem for a Dream ''Requiem for a Dream'' is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald, and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same ...

''. Alston's sophomore film, ''Augustus'', won the Directorial Discovery Grand Prize at the Rhode Island International Film Festival in addition to being awarded the distinction of Best Director at multiple festivals in 2020.

Awards and nominations

Film

Screenwriting

Alston's first feature-length screenplay, based on an eponymous Oscar nominated short-doc, was one of three selections to win the Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition in 2022. Prior to this, he and his co-writer won the Missouri Stories Scriptwriting fellowship in 2020. His first hour-long pilot was a finalist in 11 screenwriting competitions between 2021 and 2022. Festivals include ScreenCraft TV Pilot Script Competition, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards Competition, Launch Pad Pilot Competition and HollyShorts Screenwriting Competition among others. The project is also listed in the top 1% of Discoverable Projects on Coverfly.

References

External links

*
Oakland Raiders bio''The Wrap''''Variety''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Jon 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football defensive ends American football linebackers Stanford Cardinal football players St. Louis Rams players Oakland Raiders players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players