George Jones (American football)

{{Short description|American football player (born 1973)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Use American English|date=December 2023}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = George Jones

| number = 43, 22

| position = Running back

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|12|31|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 9

| weight_lb = 204

| high_school = Eastside
(Taylors, South Carolina)

| college = San Diego St.

| draftyear = 1997

| draftround = 5

| draftpick = 154

| pastteams =

• Pittsburgh Steelers ({{NFL Year|1997}})
• Jacksonville Jaguars ({{NFL Year|1998}})
• Cleveland Browns ({{NFL Year|1999}})
• Winnipeg Blue Bombers ({{CFL Year|2000}})

| statlabel1 = Rushing yards

| statvalue1 = 371

| statlabel2 = Rushing average

| statvalue2 = 3.1

| statlabel3 = Receptions

| statvalue3 = 17

| statlabel4 = Receiving yards

| statvalue4 = 105

| statlabel5 = Total touchdowns

| statvalue5 = 2

| pfr = JoneGe00

}}

George Dee Jones (born December 31, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs, earning second-team All-American honors in 1995. He is currently Co-Hosting a show called “Football, Fatherhood, & Life”, with Troy Geary and founder of The Present Dad Foundation.{{Cn|date=December 2023}}

Despite having a stellar college career at San Diego State, where Jones broke many of Marshall Faulk's rushing records, his pro career was shorten by injuries.{{cite news|date=July 7, 2016|accessdate=December 28, 2017|url=http://pghsportsdaily.com/george-jones-steelers-running-back-1997/|title=George Jones, Steelers Running Back, 1997|work=PGH Sports Daily|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826051845/http://pghsportsdaily.com/george-jones-steelers-running-back-1997/|archive-date=August 26, 2018|url-status=dead}} He was selected in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL draft.{{Cite web |title=1997 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1997/draft.htm |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He made his NFL debut during the 1997 season with the Pittsburgh Steelers,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vmx7yUxBhU4C&pg=PA1225|title=NFL Draft}} serving as a halfback for most of the season while Tim Lester was on injured reserve. The following season, he was released by the Steelers and moved on to the Jacksonville Jaguars before finishing his career with the expansion Cleveland Browns in 1999.{{cite web|url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JoneGe00.htm|title=George Jones Statistics|website=Pro-Football-Reference.com|accessdate=December 28, 2017}}

Before he joined the NFL, he bought a car, and then his parents bought him a plane ticket to Bakersfield, California to which he flew from Greenville, South Carolina.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-09-25-sp-47311-story.html|title=Aztec Ruins : San Diego State's Jones Was a Heisman Candidate Before Season, but After Probe of His Car Purchase, He Hasn't Even Talked to His de Facto Family|author=Chris Dufrense|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 25, 1996|access-date=December 28, 2017}}