Jacquez Jones’ adolescent years included a fatherless home, a mom in prison, two younger siblings to look after and temptation and trouble at every turn.
Yet despite all the instability, struggles and disadvantages thrown Jones’ way, the Clearwater star receiver maintained a positivity that ultimately let him escape the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.
“That’s just me. I’m the type of person where if something goes wrong, not going my way, I just keep pushing,” Jones said, as Tennessee’s 2017 receiver signee will report to Knoxville on Sunday.
“I never really like to reminisce on the struggles, but it’s a really good quality I was blessed with. It’s just who I am. There’s always a smile on my face.”
At just eight years old, Jones’ mom, Helena, went to federal prison on drug charges. Initially, Jones and his two siblings moved in with their grandmother, but family instability and pressures from poor influences followed him wherever he went. As other family members went to jail, Jones bounced between a number of different homes and couches over the years, desperate to find the support he needed to escape the cycle of chaos.
“He’s had a really, really tough time. He still has a tough time with the relationship he has with his mother and his family,” said Clearwater coach Don Mesick, who has been Jones’ mentor and biggest advocate the last several years.
“You’re always going to love your mother and always want to be around your family, but some of those influences aren’t always the best to be around. He battles with that. He doesn’t want to let anyone down.
"The type of kid he is, it’s amazing to me what a positive attitude he has — not towards just football, but school and people in general. He’s a great kid. Coming from where’s he’s been, he’s had every opportunity not to be that way. He’s had a lot of negative things happen to him, and he’s just always stayed positive and battled through it. It speaks to how much success means to him. He wants to be successful. He wants to make his family proud and the people around him proud.”
In high school, football became Jones’ escape. Under Mesick, the 5-foot-11, 170-pound prospect developed into a star receiver for Clearwater, with colleges across the country showing interest and giving him an opportunity to make something else for his life. Jones had every kind of distraction off the field, but on the gridiron, he could focus on what he loved to do.
“It’s my sanctuary,” he said. “When I’m on the field I don’t think about nothing else.”
Jones credits Mesick and the Bryant’s, a family who was also instrumental in helping him escape a toxic environment, for allowing him to realize his potential.
“I just had people in my corner. I didn’t have a mom there. I didn’t have a dad either, but I had people who had my best interest. It was never easy for me out there, especially in the beginning, but after I made the progress and showed myself I could really do it, what I really wanted to be, people started to come around with my best interest,” he said.
“My head coach, man, he was always telling me, ‘Don’t ever lose focus. You can get out of any situation.’ He was so inspirational to me because he met me at a point in my life where I could’ve chosen to go differently, but he stayed in my corner. He always pushed me.”
Helena Jones was released from prison in 2015, and while she and Jones bonded over letters and brief visits during her extended time away, they truly reconnected once she was back in his life. Separated by just 15 years, Jones said he and his mom are more like “best friends" than a normal mother-son relationship.
“We can talk about anything,” he explained.“Me and my mom, we never had a bad relationship. Even though she was away. I really never held any types of grudges. That's not me. … Going to Tennessee, she’s over (the moon) proud. Words can’t explain.”
Last season, Jones helped Clearwater win another district championship and led the team with 1,538 all-purpose yards and 16 total touchdowns. He was a dynamic returner, runner and receiver, but years of a nomadic childhood left his spotty grades as another hurdle to overcome.
“I’d be the first to tell you my grades (suffered) as a result,” Jones said.
Still, Mesick, the Bryant's and school counselors worked tirelessly with Jones to get his academics in order. With focus and stability, he upped his GPA. Then, late this spring, he received a final, stern message of motivation from Mesick to finish strong.
“You have an unbelievable laser focus when you’re on the football field,” Mesick told Jones.
“He sees everything. He feels everything. He’s diagnosing what’s going on in the defensive backfield. 'You have a laser focus on the practice field. You come out there everyday to get better, but you have to do the same thing in the classroom. You’ve got to take your grades so seriously like you’ve got to go make the play in the fourth quarter. … Now, you’ve got to go make the play in the classroom. Your time is up. It’s the fourth quarter. Time is running out. Go get it done.’
“He’s got lots of things going through his mind. I used the analogy of using the same focus you use on the football field because he is one of the most focused kids on the football field I’ve seen in my 28 years of coaching.”
In the end, Jones made the qualifying test score and graduated from Clearwater High. Later this week, Mesick is set to deliver some final parting words before Jones makes the 11-hour drive up to Knoxville this Sunday.
"He needs to get somewhere and have a clean slate,” Mesick said. “I know he’s scared. He’s a young kid, but he’s going to thrive because he’ll be surrounded by other people who are on the same mission as him. He’s always going to have a lot less distractions created around here.”
Jones is always a ball of energy and hopes to come to Tennessee and burst onto the scene. He admits he’s worried about leaving his family, especially his siblings, but as the first person in his family to go to college, he’s ready to show his brother and sister there’s another path in life.
He already knows what his mom is going to tell him when she drops him off Sunday, too.
“Remember why you’re here.”
CATCHING UP WITH JACQUEZ JONES…
What’s your biggest strength as a receiver?
“My leaping ability (37-inch vertical jump). My ability to understand what’s going on around me. Just getting those 1-on-1’s. Using my speed to my advantage.”
Who is your favorite NFL wideout?
“Antonio Brown, just because he’s my size and shows a lot of kids around the world that at our size we can dominate in the NFL, too. Steve Smith, Marvin Harrison same (thing).”
If you could meet one person dead or alive who would it be?
“My uncle Cedric. He died before I was born, but he always had a smile on his face, too. He always brightened the room. He was never down. I think I took his personality right out of him. He had two liver transplants and he was never down. He always stayed positive no matter the hard times.
What’s on your playlist right now?
“Drake. I like listening to More Life.”
Favorite hobby?
“Playing NBA2k. I don’t think it’s fair. I’m good.”
