Chad Jones Update

[GGGGG-Men]

Chad Jones still chasing his NFL dream

By Randy Rosetta, The Times-Picayune
on October 05, 2012 at 11:19 AM

Some mornings, little things that seem so natural to most of us, like the first step after swinging your legs out of bed, are a challenging reminder for Chad Jones.
Those occasional bouts with morning stiffness and soreness in his left leg are not just a reminder about what the former LSU star and New Orleans native has lost since June 25, 2010 but about where he wants to go.

Jones dreams of rekindling an NFL dream - one that was right in the palm of his hand until an early-morning car accident completely redirected his plans and nearly cost him that left leg.

"I'm still working out and training as a football player, but I have to think about different things," Jones said recently. "I definitely still have those dreams on the table. I love the game of football and the NFL is my ultimate goal. I'm going to do everything in my power to make that still come true."

If the NFL can't work out, Jones, without a second of hesitation, says he'll take aim at a pro baseball career, which isn't far-fetched when you consider that he was drafted in the 13th round by the Houston Astros in 2008 and played a small but memorable role in LSU's 2009 College World Series triumph as a left-handed relief pitcher. He was also famous for his pre-game batting practice displays of power - the kind where everybody in both dugouts stop and watch.

He said he's remained in contact with a handful of scouts and Jones believes he could be a left-hand hitting outfielder in the big leagues if he shifted his focus that direction.

Perhaps more important than either prong of his ambitious professional sports goals, though, is where his life is headed, 28 months after time stood still. Before the first of 17 to 18 surgeries on his mangled, infected left leg ever began.

Now Jones' higher goals, his most important plans, start at home.

"Life has slowed down," said Jones, who lives in New Orleans and is back in school at LSU. He also spends several hours a week at a local workout facility with longtime girlfriend Jade Newman, also the mother of 4-year-old Chad Jones Jr.

"I was moving too fast and looking too far ahead and not worrying about the present - not worrying about my family and watching my kids grow up and spending the kind of time I needed to with my family. This slowed me down and brought a whole lot of sense and wisdom and a kind of maturity. Now I feel like I know how to live the right way instead of in the fast lane," said Jones, who turned 24 on Friday.

"Even though I'm not doing what I want to do on the football field, everything else came together. I've gotten closer with my family and I've gotten the chance to go talk to schools and help other young players by telling them my story. That's the real positive that came out of this wreck, and now I'm just trying to get back to where I was and get back on the field."

That notion of being back on the field was way down the list of priorities in the arduous weeks and months after the wreck on Carrollton Avenue when Jones lost control of his new Range Rover along the street car tracks and slammed into a light pole.

In the grisly carnage, the front driver's side axle snapped and part of it shot into Jones' left leg and punctured his femoral artery. Police arrived on the scene quickly, but it took 23 excruciatingly painful minutes to pry Jones' shattered body out of the wreckage and get him to LSU Public Hospital.

The first surgery began minutes after he arrived and for 11 hours, doctors began a vascular transplantation surgery aimed at one task: Saving the leg. During that procedure, a metal rod and screws were inserted into his tibia and fibula.

"The main thing is they had to get my bone structure back together," Jones said. "I shattered a lot of bones and both of my heels. Somehow my bones formed back together around that metal rod and became stronger. I also had several skin grafts (from his hip) covering up parts of my heels and lower part of both legs and my thigh because my wounds were so big they couldn't close them up. There was also a lot of cleaning and flushing out. I had a real bad infection because a bunch of oil and all the muck that was in the car engine had gotten into my blood stream and was running through my body."

Since the initial fight to survive, Jones, Newman and his family have taken the recovery and rehab process in incremental steps.

Two key mileposts arrived in May and July.

In May, the New York Giants - the team that drafted Jones in the third round of the 2010 NFL draft - released him.

In a statement from the Giants, associate team physician Scott Rodeo said "At this time, he has residual sensory loss, muscle weakness, and tenuous soft tissue coverage in the involved lower leg. The resultant functional impairment precludes his ability to perform physically at the level required for professional football."

It was a disappointing but expected step, and the Giants have continued to support Jones by paying for his training through next spring.

"The Giants have been wonderful to Chad and us throughout this whole process," said Al Jones, Chad's father. Al Jones grew up in New Orleans and played football at St. Augustine and Tulane.

"We knew as his parents and as a family, we were going to have to handle a lot of medical costs, but they helped as much as they could. And as much as anything, they helped Chad mentally by not giving up on him."

And that's certainly one thing Jones isn't going to do on himself.

A year ago Friday, he ran a 40-yard dash to show his progress and was clocked at 4.8 seconds. Jones says he is down in the 4.6-second range now.

That's in part due to the last surgical procedure he went through in late July when surgeons removed the rod, screws and all metal in his leg.

"So now Chad Jones is back to being all natural," he said with an infectious ear-to-ear smile. "A lot of the soreness came with the metal inside my body. I have better range of motion feel and I feel lighter on the field. That last surgery was the icing on the cake."

It was also an important crossroads.

As unwelcome as the man-made structure in his rebuilt leg might have been, the rod was in place to help stability and it played an important role in Jones' structural recovery.

The final hurdle was a mental one.

"I was nervous because I knew that rod was what was holding me up," he said. "That was my strength. I took those first few steps and put pressure on it and it didn't feel too bad."

Strength.

That's a word Jones uses frequently, and not always about the leg he says is even stronger than the right one because of the work and attention he has devoted to fixing himself.

Strength is also found at home with Newman and Chad Jr.

While those two were always important to Jones, his journey from June 25 to now has helped him grasp more fully just where they are in his heart.

"I believe the wreck changed him tremendously and made him realize what's important in life," said Newman, Jones' girlfriend since the ninth grade. "It made him a better man and a better father."

Added Al Jones, "As a father, I've been proud of Chad because of the way he has handled the whole situation. You really learn more things about people when something like this happens. I learned he was more determined and focused than I ever thought he could be. He grew up in a hurry. He became a man in the face of adversity."

Chad Jones' evolution includes a closer relationship with Newman and a bond with his son that has gotten tighter with every passing day.

Newman is Jones' workout partner and she doesn't handle him with kid gloves.

"It's hard," she said. "Some days he's willing to do whatever I say but some days I get some feedback. He knows I'm pushing him because I love him."

Chad Jr. - or Little Chad - is a constant reminder of how fortune has smiled on Chad Sr., whether he steps on a football field or baseball diamond ever again.

Every day starts and ends with father and son praying. In between, they spend a lot of time talking about what lies ahead. Chad Jr. is already a football and baseball player on teams with boys older than him.

"Sometimes he's up before me, hovering over me and he's already got his helmet on and has a football in his hand," Chad said and then chuckled. "Sometimes I get woken up with football to the side of my head. He gives me a hug and kiss every day and says 'Dad work hard at practice.' He wants me to do great things and that pushes me to do great things and be a great role model for him."

Before the accident life that may not have been something that Jones thought much about.

There was never any question he loved his then 2-year-old son. Newman said they were like best friends and that Chad Jr. cried every day his dad was gone to OTAs with the Giants after he was drafted.

Soul searching has become a specialty for Chad Sr. since that night on Carrolton, and a lot of life's secrets that take most men years to recognize seemed to have come into clear focus.

"I always used to wonder right when the wreck happened, 'Why did it happen this way? Why did God strip it away from me when I was this close," Jones said. "I mean, I was already living my dream, already in it. I got drafted and I was working on getting a starting role. I was thinking all about the future of Chad Jones.

"God showed me a lesson about being greedy. It wasn't all about Chad Jones. My family helped me get where I was. My friends helped me get there. This showed me what I was missing and now I know how to handle things the right way."

What's next?

Nobody is sure and that's where another newfound quality has come in handy: Patience.

As Jones continues to work out, he stays in touch with NFL executives to see when and where he could launch a potential comeback. Once the Giants cut him he became an unrestricted free agent.

"I see progress and I have no doubt my mind if I keep working hard," Jones said. "I'll fulfill my goal. I think it's my destiny to play pro football.

"I'm used to seeing faster progress. With this injury, the steps are slow. I've had to learn to tough it out."

Newman has been there for those tough moments, and for a lot of reasons she has a vested interest in seeing Jones continuing to strive toward his ultimate goal.

"He's back to the point where he knows he's physically strong enough, but it's just a waiting process," Newman said. "I know there's more in store for him. I'm just waiting and praying that it's whatever he's meant to be."

Added Al Jones, "From the time he went into that first surgery, I felt like he was going to be fine. As long as Chad was living, that meant he had a chance to do whatever he wanted to do again. I believed it then and I still do."

http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/20...ing_his_n.html

[cowboyskilla]

http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/20...ing_his_n.html

is there a chance that the Giants still could try Jones out again? after all when free agency hits after this season, we might lose Phillips

[GGGGG-Men]

They COULD but i doubt it. They'll likely find a way to keep Phillips and they still have Brown, Hill and Sash.

Plus Jones is struggling in football workouts. He might need to go back to baseball.

[cowboyskilla]

I think Jones should try out in next year's mini camp with the Giants again. make that comeback and show the Giants what they were missing for 3 years because of a tragic accident. I have some funny feelings that if we sign this guy, he's gunna be our black version of "Eric Weddle" from San Diego..anyways this kid has talent and i may be dreaming but I think he has pro-bowl potential

[cowboyskilla]

GGGGG-MEN, why did you close my thread? that was really rude, because I still had more questions to ask........

[TThomasBeliever]

GGGGG-MEN, why did you close my thread? that was really rude, because I still had more questions to ask........

It wasn't rude. It was a closed subject because Terrell Thomas cannot come back this year. If you want to ask questions about the roster, post them in the roster thread.

This would be considered rude: Update your signature and your "PSD's" thing under your screen name, or do you not know that Jacobs and Smith are both gone?

[GGGGG-Men]

GGGGG-MEN, why did you close my thread? that was really rude, because I still had more questions to ask........

The topic was T2 coming back this year, but it's impossible so I thought it was a dead topic.

Didn't know there was more to be said.