Matthew Jones (born June 13, 1999) is an American 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 ...

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. He played

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for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

Early life and high school

Jones grew up in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and attended high school at Erasmus Hall. Jones was rated a four start prospect coming out of high school and decided to commit to play college football at

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, over other school such as

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Clemson,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

College career

In Jones first season with the Buckeyes he would redshirt, and then in the next year he would backup Jonah Jackson. However Jones would get his first opportunity to start in the following season where he get his first career start in Ohio State's season finale versus

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

, he would also get to start in Ohio State's college football playoffs game against Clemson, and again against Alabama in the National Championship. During the 2021 season Jones played in 12 games, starting in three of them. However, during the 2022 season Jones would have his breakout season playing in 12 games starting in them all, while also earning Second Team All Big-Ten honors. After the conclusion of the 2022 season, Jones announced he would return for his extra season of eligibility for the 2023 season.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Jones signed with the

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

as an undrafted free agent on May 10, 2024. He was waived on August 27.

Arizona Cardinals

On December 26, 2024, Jones was signed to the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with Arizona on January 6, 2025. On April 29, Jones was released by the Cardinals.

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Matthew 1999 births Living people American football offensive guards Erasmus Hall High School alumni Ohio State Buckeyes football players Players of American football from Brooklyn Miami Dolphins players Arizona Cardinals players