James Jones (wide receiver)

James Deandre Jones (born March 31, 1984) is an American football wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Packers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at San Jose State University.

Early years
Jones and his mother lived in various homeless shelters, and they also lived with Janet Jean Jones' mother. Jones then lived with his paternal grandmother during his high school years. At Gunderson High School in San Jose, California, Jones played basketball, track, and football. During his senior year, Jones was his team's most valuable player as a quarterback. Jones credits his Pop Warner football coach, Marion Larrea, with turning his life around. Larrea saw potential in Jones and treated him as part of his own family. Jones signed the jersey he wore when the Packers won the 2011 Super Bowl and gave it to Larrea, saying he would not have achieved what he did without him.

College career
After three years at San Jose State, Jones had a breakthrough 2006 senior season, where he caught 70 passes, good for 893 yards and 10 TDs. Jones capped off his senior season by catching six passes (106 yards), two for touchdowns, en route to being named the offensive MVP of the inaugural New Mexico Bowl. His accomplishments his senior year earned him second team All-WAC honors along with an invite to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Green Bay Packers
Jones tied the NFL combine record for bench presses by a wide receiver with 22 reps of 225 pounds, and was selected in the 3rd round by the Green Bay Packers.

Jones was a starter for the Packers in the first game of the 2007 season. He caught four passes for 29 total yards in a 16–13 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Jones scored his first professional touchdown in a week four match-up vs. the Minnesota Vikings at the Metrodome. With Green Bay leading 16–9, Brett Favre hit Jones on a pass down the right sideline that went 33 yards for a touchdown, giving Green Bay a 23–9 lead. The Packers would end up winning the game 23–16. Jones was announced as the Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week for games played on October 28–29, 2007. Jones had three receptions for 107 yards including a first-quarter 79-yard touchdown in the Packers' 19–13 win over the Denver Broncos. Jones finished the year with 47 receptions for 676 yards and two touchdowns.

In 2009-2010 season, Jones was the depth chart three receiver on the team, behind Donald Driver and Greg Jennings. In 2009, Jones caught 32 passes, had 440 receiving yards and scored 5 touchdowns. Jones added 3 receptions, 50 yards and 1 touchdown in Green Bay's Wild Card playoff overtime loss at Arizona.

In 2010, Jones had 50 receptions for 679 yards and 5 touchdowns. He scored 2 touchdowns in the 2010-11 NFL Playoffs, one each in the Wild Card and Divisional round vs the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons respectively. In Super Bowl XLV vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jones caught 5 passes for 50 yards in Green Bay's 31-25 triumph.

Jones was a free agent in 2011. During the offseason, it was widely speculated that Jones would seek a higher salary with another team. However, he signed a three-year contract with the Packers on 31 July. In 2011, Jones had 635 receiving yards and scored 7 touchdowns with 38 receptions.

In 2012, Jones started all 16 regular season games for the first time in his career. He posted career highs in receptions (64), receiving yards (784) and touchdowns (14). His 14 touchdown receptions led the entire NFL. On October 14th, Jones scored two touchdowns against the Houston Texans, making it his third consecutive game with two touchdowns, joining Don Hutson as the only Packer receiver to ever accomplish that. On December 16 against the Chicago Bears, Jones had 3 touchdown catches for the first time in a single game in his career. Jones started both of the Packers games in the 2012-13 NFL Playoffs. In the Packers Wild Card playoff victory against the Minnesota Vikings, Jones posted 4 receptions for 51 yards. Jones had 4 catches, 87 yards and 1 touchdown in the Packers Divisional Round playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.