Donald Jones (born December 17, 1987) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

who played 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 ...

. He was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2010. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Youngstown State. He was also a member of the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Early life

Jones grew up in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a City (New Jersey), city in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Nicknamed "The Queen City",

and attended Plainfield High School, where he was teammates with

Eugene Monroe Eugene Christopher Monroe (born April 18, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Selected eighth overall in the 2009 NFL draft, he spent t ...

. He attended

Lackawanna College Lackawanna College (Lackawanna or LC) is a private college in Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States. It also has satellite centers in Hawley, Hazleton, Sunbury, Towanda, and Tunkhannock, and an Environmental Education Center in Covington ...

prior to transferring to

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergrad ...

, where he majored in broadcasting.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Jones was signed by the

as an

following the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. He scored his first career touchdown in week 10 of the 2010 season against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

. Jones' time with the Bills came to an end as new coach

Doug Marrone Douglas Charles Marrone (born July 25, 1964) is an American football coach and former offensive tackle. He is currently the offensive line coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played in the NFL for the Mia ...

and GM Buddy Nix did not tender him a contract for the 2013-2014 season.

New England Patriots

Jones signed a three-year deal with the

on March 15, 2013. Jones was released by the team on July 19, 2013.

Retirement

On August 7, 2013, Jones announced on his Twitter page that due to advancements in his kidney disease he would retire from the NFL. Jones briefly played for the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. On December 17th, 2024, Donald (class of 2006) was named head football coach at his former high school in Plainfield NJ (Plainfield HS)

Broadcasting career

In 2016, Jones signed on to be co-host of ''The John Murphy Show'', a daily talk show on

WGR WGR (550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—used by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Hambu ...

radio and

MSG Western New York MSG Western New York (MSG WNY) is an American regional sports network that is a joint venture between MSG Entertainment and Hockey Western New York LLC. The channel (also on occasion credited as ''Pegula Sports Network'' or ''MSG Buffalo'') is ...

. The show is sponsored by the Buffalo Bills. He left MSG and WGR in April 2018, hoping to find work closer to his home in New Jersey, from which he had commuted throughout his two-year tenure.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Donald 1987 births Living people Plainfield High School (New Jersey) alumni Players of American football from Plainfield, New Jersey American football wide receivers Youngstown State Penguins football players Buffalo Bills players New England Patriots players Lackawanna Falcons football players