HomeBleachers Exclusive Interview with Thomas Jones

The former Virginia Cavalier Star Thomas Jones Dominated the NFL over this 12 year NFL career.

The former Virginia Cavalier star Thomas Jones dominated the NFL over his 12 year NFL career. Jones made a mark on the football field in his High School days playing for Powell Valley including helping lead his team to back to back state championships. Along with the two state championships, Jones holds the single game rushing record (462 yards) and most rushing yards in a single season (3,319) in the Virginia High School League.

This production helped his path to the Cavaliers in 1996 where his production continued at a high level. When his college career was finished, Jones left the school as its All-Time leading rusher (3,998). Some of Jones other big accomplishments included recording 200 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards in the same game making him the first player in ACC history to record the feat.

Jones hard work on and off the field earned him Consensus All-American as a senior as well as a bachelor degree in three years in psychology. All of his accomplishments paid off as the Arizona Cardinals selected Jones with the seventh pick overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. From that point Jones played in 180 NFL games recording 10,591 rushing yards to go with 68 career touchdowns.

When his career ended after the 2011 NFL season, Jones walked away from the NFL in the 10,000 rushing yard club, an NFL Pro Bowler, AFC Rushing Champion and First team All-AFC in 2008. All of this helped make Thomas Jones one of the best running backs in the NFL over that time frame.

Being a top RB in the NFL for years…where did you enjoying playing football the most?

The main thing I enjoyed about the NFL was the competition to get better every day. The NFL is the highest level of competition and every day you have to be at your best or you will lose a game or your job. Football made me accountable for everything I do and it made me a better competitor in everything I do. Now that I am acting and producing films I’ve brought that same level of accountability and competitive spirit to the entertainment world and things are moving really fast for me right now.

Jones racked up a solid career with 2,678 carries over his NFL career with 10,591 rushing yards with the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs. From 2005 to 2009, Jones topped the 1,000 yard mark in each season with his best season coming that last season. In 2009 with the Jets, Jones rushed for 1,402 yards and a career high 14 rushing touchdowns.

What was your most memorable moment in the NFL?

My most memorable NFL moment was winning the NFC championship game in 2007. The Super Bowl was a blur that year but the mere fact of knowing you are going to the Super Bowl is a feeling I could never describe. Seeing guys crying tears of joy and the way the snow was coming down on us was very surreal. Everything I had done in my career was to get to this point and we did it. My emotions were at a level that is unmatched. I’ll never forget that day as long as I live.

Jones was a part of a Chicago Bears team that finished 13-3 during the regular season during the 2006 NFL season. This included a seven game win streak to open the season followed by a four game winning streak to secure the NFC North title along with the number one seed in the NFC. The Bears would go on to knock off the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round before a prime time matchup with the New Orleans Saints. The Bears would go on to steam roll the Saints 39-14 to win the NFC conference and move on to Super Bowl XLI.

Jones would help carry the load carrying the ball 19 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns to help secure the win over the Saints. In three games during the 2006-07 NFL post season, Jones rushed for 301 yards on 55 carries and four rushing touchdowns.

Do you ever consider going back to coach or work in the NFL or even the college game?

I could never go back to the NFL because my mind isn’t there anymore. The NFL changed my life but that chapter of my life is closed. I’m so focused on my acting career and producing projects that I haven’t even been back to a game since I retired in 2012. I think it would be hard to go to a game to be honest. I gave everything I had to that game and I know it would be extremely hard watching from the stands. The smell of the grass is the hardest thing to deal with I think.

The afterlife of the NFL is a different than when Jones played on the field something that we have seen few NFL players do over the years. When you look around the NFL how many head coaches were excellent football players on the field? Many of the top coaches have been groomed from an early age. That being said Jones’s physical abilities could lead him to be a great coach if he ever elected to go that route.

Are you still working with the USFL?

I’m not sure where that rumor got started of me in the USFL. I’ve never worked for any football league except for the NFL. I pride myself on doing things outside of the box and because a lot of players go straight to ESPN or NFL Network when they retire I stay as far away as possible. That’s just not my thing. Working in a corporate position at any sports network or football league is not in the cards for me.

This isn’t the same USFL from the mid 80’s as it is referenced to the New United States Football League to separate it from the former league. The league is formed with eight teams but took off the entire 2014 season after the league was taken over by a new ownership group in August of 2013.

What projects are you working on now outside of the NFL?

I’m working on a lot of projects right now. I’ve been cast for a big show on BET for next year and I’ve also been cast for 3 movies that come out next year as well including the movie “Straight Outta Compton”. It will be in theatres August 14th 2015. I have 2 scripts that I have written for my film company Independently Major Entertainment Films to produce. I also have a football documentary called “The NFL: The Gift or The Curse? “. I’m shopping it to networks now and you can see the teaser on YouTube under the title. So much is happening with my company and it’s only the beginning. It’s very exciting.

In 2013, Jones appeared in two series including Shameless and Comedy Bang, Bang! He followed those appearances up with three appearances in the tv show Being Mary Jane. He is also slated to appear in Straight Outta Compton in 2015 along with Supermodel in 2016 which is filming currently.

Saw that you’re appearing on TLC…what other shows in the works? 

I was on The Learning Channel’s hit show “Say Yes To The Dress” because my baby sister was getting a wedding dress and she wanted me there to support her. It was fun although I had no idea what was going on. Just to be there for her in this important time of her life is special for me. I finally get to spend more time with my family now that I’ve retired which is a very good thing. I missed out on a lot of special times. As I mentioned before I have a lot of projects on deck. You will definitely hear about one of them in particular really soon.

Can you tell us about IME Films? 

IME Films is the films department of my company Independently Major Entertainment. I started IME in 2012 and I’ve added a lot of elements to it from documentaries and feature films.

In 2012, Jones started the company IME to provide a variety of video services including film production, script evaluation, freelance photography, modeling photo shoots, music video production and model/actor placement. Along with Jones, the company has Domingo Ramos as its President/Director and Ronnie Bahamon as the companies director of Films.

For more info on Thomas and his current projects, check his site out at http://thomasqjones.com
Image © Thomas Jones.