Barrett Jones

Barrett Jones (born May 25, 1990) is an American football offensive lineman for the Alabama Crimson Tide. Noted for his versatility, Jones started three BCS National Championship Games (2010, 2012, 2013) all at different positions along the offensive line. Following the 2011 season, Jones was recognized as a consensus All-American, and won the Outland Trophy for the best lineman in college football. After another All-American season in 2012, he won the Rimington Trophy for the best center. Jones is eligible in the 2013 NFL Draft and is considered one of the best offensive linemen of his class.

Early years
Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Evangelical Christian School in Memphis, and played high school football for the ECS Eagles. Following his senior season in 2007, he was a first-team all-state selection by The Tennessean and the Tennessee Sports Writers Association, and was a U.S. Army high school All-American. He was a highly sought-after college recruit, and was rated as the top high school football player in the state of Tennessee by Rivals.com.

His father Rex attended the University of Alabama and played for the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team from 1982 to 1984.

College career
Jones received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Alabama, where he has played for coach Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide football team since 2008. After redshirting his initial year at Alabama, Jones started all 14 games for Alabama's 2009 national championship team at right guard. He subsequently earned Freshman All-America honors from College Football News and Phil Steele.

In his junior season, because of team needs, he switched from guard to left tackle where he started all 13 games for another Alabama national championship team. Following his 2011 junior season, he was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American. He was the winner of the 2011 Outland Trophy given to the best lineman in college football. In his senior year, again because of team needs, he switched from tackle to center. He started every game at center for the team that won another National Championship in 2012. He did not receive a second Outland Trophy but won the Rimington Trophy given each year to the outstanding college center becoming only the 2nd person in history to win both an Outland and a Rimington. He is the only person to win an Outland and a Remington at two different positions or in two different years. Barrett Jones ended his Alabama career winning 3 BCS National Championships—each Championship at a different position—as an All American guard, an All American right tackle and an All American center.

Off the field, he has earned a degree in accounting graduating summa cum laude in August 2011 with a 4.0 grade point average. He is graduated in December 2012 with his masters again maintaining a 4.0 GPA. In addition, he was honored as one of 11 members of the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Work "which honors football student-athletes for exemplary community service." Jones won the 2012 William V. Campbell Trophy, an award given by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame to college's football's "best and brightest." He is a 2010 and 2011 Academic All-American and in 2012, he earned distinction as the Football Academic All-America Team Member of the Year. He received the 2011 ARA Sportsmanship Award and 2011 Wuerffel Trophy for combined athletic, academic and community service achievement. On December 6, 2012, Jones was awarded the Rimington Trophy as the best center in college football.

Jones suffered a serious foot injury in the first quarter of the SEC Championship game but played the entire game so well that his teammates did not even know he had been injured. Even with the injury, in the BCS Championship game 4 weeks later, Jones earned praise for handling Notre Dame nose tackle Louis Nix III mostly by himself, giving left guard Chance Warmack the freedom to maneuver downfield to block Fighting Irish linebackers for Eddie Lacy and T. J. Yeldon. After the game, he announced that he had a Lisfranc injury of the left foot with at least 2 torn ligaments. He was scheduled for surgery immediately upon returning home to Alabama. After surgery, he will be out for 3-4 months and will be unable to participate in the NFL combine.