Donnie Jones

This article is about the NFL Punter. For the basketball coach, see Donnie Jones (basketball).

Donnie Jones

At a game in Denver in November, 2010.
No. 5     St. Louis Rams
Punter
Personal information
Date of birth: July 5, 1980 (1980-07-05) (age 31)
Place of birth: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Weight: 222 lb (101 kg)
Career information
College: Louisiana State
NFL Draft: 2004 / Round: 7 / Pick: 224
Debuted in 2004 for the Seattle Seahawks
Career history
Seattle Seahawks (2004) Miami Dolphins (2005-2006) St. Louis Rams (2007-present)
Career highlights and awards
2× Second-team All-Pro selection (2008, 2009)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2007
Punts	277
Punt Yards	12,139
Punting Yard Average	43.8
Stats at NFL.com

Donald Scott Jones, Jr. (born July 5, 1980) is an American football punter for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He played collegiately at Louisiana State University.

High school career

Jones attended Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was a letterman in football. In his last high school game Catholic High was beaten in the Louisiana Semi-finals 35-0 by National High School power, West Monroe Rebels. In football, he won All-District honors and All-State honors as a punter. Jones graduated from Catholic High School in 1999. He averaged 9+ punts per game and never recorded any injury or fatigue.^[1]

College career

Jones played his college football at LSU. He was involved in the final play of the 2003 National Championship game, when the punt unit took the last snap of the game, and ran out the last nine seconds of the clock to ensure a victory for the team. In the first quarter of the November 9, 2002 LSU-Kentucky game, known as the Bluegrass Miracle, Jones hit an 86-yard punt, the longest punt in school history. He was a four-year starter, averaging 42.4 yards on his 64 punts during his senior year, with a net average of 39 yards. He landed 22 of those punts inside the 20 yard line, and had seven touchbacks. He majored in finance.

Professional career

2004

Jones was drafted in the seventh-round (224th overall) by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2004 NFL Draft. He played in six games with Seahawks in between stints on the practice squad during his rookie season. He shared punting duties with Tom Rouen and Ken Walter during the season. On the year, Jones punted 26 times for a 38.0 average with a net of 32.2, six inside-the-20 and two touchbacks. He had a season long with a 51-yard punt against the Carolina Panthers on October 31. On November 14 at the St. Louis Rams, he punted three times for a 49.3-yard gross average and a net of 42.7, when he had another 51-yard punt.

2005

Jones was awarded off waivers to the Miami Dolphins on July 25, 2005. He was released following training camp and re-signed to the practice squad, but was placed on the active roster prior to the season opener. He went on to play in all 16 games in his first season with the Dolphins. On the season, he had 88 punts for a 43.5-yard average, including a net of 39.3, which led the NFL and marked a new Dolphins’ single-season record. He also added 31 punts inside-the-20, which ranked second in the AFC and was a Dolphins’ single-season record as well. Of his 88 punts, 24 went 50 yards or longer, with three traveling 60 yards or longer. He had a punt of 50 yards or longer in all but three games, and had a net average of 40.0 or better in nine games. He also held for placekicker Olindo Mare throughout the season. Jones' performance during the season earned him a selection as a third alternate for the Pro Bowl.

2006

Jones experienced a bit of regression in 2006 compared to the previous year. For the season he had 85 kicks for 3640 yards - an average of 42.8 yards per kick. He also had a net average of 35.7 yards per punt, with 28 punts inside the 20-yard line. He had one punt blocked during the season.

2007

Jones was a restricted free agent in the 2007 offseason. He was tendered a contract by the Miami Dolphins on March 2.

On April 13, the St. Louis Rams signed Jones to an offer sheet. Less than a week later, Dolphins general manager Randy Mueller announced that the team would not match the offer sheet and Jones became property of the Rams in exchange for the 225th pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. The contract is worth $5.585 million over five years. It includes a signing bonus of $1.175 million and salaries of $510,000 in 2007, $700,000 in 2008, $1 million in 2009, $1.1 million in 2010, and $1.1 million in 2011.

2008

Jones became the first NFL punter to average at least 50 yards per punt since Sammy Baugh in 1940. He was voted Second-team All-Pro and a first alternate to the Pro Bowl.

2009

For the second straight year Jones was voted an alternate to the Pro Bowl.

Personal

Donnie is married to Aubrie, and the couple resides in St. Charles, MO. Following the 2003 National Championship season at LSU, Jones penned a book titled Nine Seconds to a Championship^[2] (ISBN 0-9760181-9-5) about his career as a member of the LSU Tigers football team. He is also known as Thunder Foot.

Notes

1. ^ Jones, Donnie. "Punter". NFL.com. Nfl.com. http://www.nfl.com/players/donniejones/profile?id=JON237997. 
2. ^ ESPN.com - Former LSU punter writes book (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=ncf&id=1845145)

External links

• Rams Player Bio

Persondata
Name	Jones, Donnie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 5, 1980
Place of birth	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Date of death
Place of death