Donnie Jones

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Donnie Jones
Date of birth	July 5, 1980 (age 26)
Place of birth	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	222 lb (101 kg)
Position(s)	Punter
College	LSU
NFL Draft	2004 / Round 7 / Pick 224
Stats
Statistics	NFL.com
Team(s)
2004 2005-present	Seattle Seahawks Miami Dolphins

Donald Scott Jones, Jr. (born July 5, 1980 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) is an American football punter for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He played collegiately at LSU.

1 High school career
2 College career
3 Professional career
- 3.1 2004
- 3.2 2005
- 3.3 2006
- 3.4 2007
4 Trivia
5 Personal
6 External links
7 Notes

[edit] High school career

Jones attended Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and was a letterman in football. In football, he won All-District honors and All-State honors as a punter. Jones graduated from Catholic High School in 1999.

[edit] 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. 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.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] 2004

Jone 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 2007

Jones is a restricted free agent in the 2007 offseason. He was tendered a contract by the Miami Dolphins on March 2. The Dolphins will receive a seventh-round pick if Jones signs with another team. Should he re-sign with the Dolphins, he will have a guaranteed salary of $850,000 in 2007.

[edit] Trivia

Following the 2003 National Championship season at LSU, Jones penned a book titled Nine Seconds to a Championship^[1] (ISBN 0-9760181-9-5) about his career as a member of the LSU Tigers football team.