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Byron Jones has already started making history.
The Connecticut native cemented his name in the literal record books with an incredible performance at the NFL Combine earlier this year. If that wasn’t enough, he became just the second player in UConn history to be drafted in the first round when he was selected 27th overall by the Dallas Cowboys in May.
Now, with his first training camp ahead of him, Jones is looking to find his place in the Cowboys’ secondary, battling for positioning and playing time. Here’s what you need to know about the guy Dallas is calling “a freak athlete”:
1. Jones Played College Football at UConn
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Jones played football at the University of Connecticut from 2011-2014 and recorded a total of 223 tackles, eight interceptions and two touchdowns over the course of his career. Both of his touchdowns came at the expense of USF, including a 70-yard return as a senior that ESPN called “the UConn player of the year.”
The Connecticut native battled injuries throughout his career and actually played with a torn labrum as a senior. Ultimately the pain became too much though and Jones missed the final five games of the Huskies’ season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He explained the injury at the combine, saying:
I tried to play as long as I could with it, rehabbing twice a day. It kept coming out. In the final game it came out twice and they actually had to put it back in. They called it after that.
2. He Set a World Record at the 2015 NFL Combine
Jones got the football world talking when set a combine and world record earlier this year with an incredible 12-feet, 3-inches distance in the broad jump. The previous combine record, set by Jamie Collins in 2013, was 11-feet, 7-inches. The world record, set by Arne Tvervaag in 1968, was 12-feet, 2-inches. Jones explained the moment to the Hartford Courant:
I just wanted to jump farther than my PR [personal record of 11-7] in training. That was my main goal and I was able to accomplish that, so I’m just enjoying the moment a little bit. You’re able to see as soon as you jump, you can see the measuring tape, and I’m surprised because my first jump was actually 11-5 and I got coached to jump out, instead of up, and I did that and I came up with a big number.
That wasn’t all. Jones was also just a half an inch away from tying the record for the vertical jump, recording a 44.5-inch leap at the combine. No wonder they call him a freak.
3. Jones Played Three Different Sports During High School
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Jones was, unsurprisingly, a prolific athlete during his high school career. He got his start playing quarterback at St. Paul High School in Connecticut before moving to wide receiver and, ultimately, defensive back. A two-star recruit according to Rivals.com, the site also claimed that UConn was Jones’ only college football offer. In his junior season with the Huskies, Jones made one last position change, switching from safety to cornerback.
In addition to playing on the gridiron, Jones was also a standout basketball and track and field star. In 2010, as one of the best sprinters in the state, Jones placed first in both the 200 (22.13 seconds) and 400-meter dashes (48.43 seconds) at the NVL Outdoor Track & Field championships.
4. He Interned for Connecticut’s House Majority Leader & at the U.S. House of Representatives
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Although he hasn’t been with the team long, the Cowboys already have a nickname for the first-round draft pick; ‘Senator.’ The term first originated during his years at UConn when his trainers started calling him Senator after a pair of high-profile internships.
Jones, who was an economics major at UConn, worked with both Connecticut’s House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz and U.S. Representative Elizabeth Esty in Washington D.C. and his interest in government and politics has only continued to grow. He told the Associated Press:
It was an eye opening experience. I went to hearings, briefings, took notes on behalf of the congresswoman. I gave tours of the U.S. Capitol. It was fascinating.
The New Britain, Connecticut native first became interested in government while playing AAU basketball – Aresimowicz was his coach. He spent his 2013 spring break and summer working for the pair of politicians.
5. Two of Jones’ Brothers Are Currently Deployed in the U.S. Armed Forces
Jones posed with his parents ahead of this year’s NFL Draft. (Getty)
Jones gives all the credit for his success, and world records, to his tight knit family in Connecticut. That includes his father, Don, a retired state trooper and his mother, Garnette, who calls herself “Mother Bear,” as well as his three older brothers.
As the youngest, Jones was forced to keep up with his siblings, Nate (29), Aaron (27) and Winston (27). All four of them played football and all four of them were incredibly competitive.
Aaron is currently serving int he Navy while Winston is in the Marines and both are deployed overseas. They didn’t see their brother drafted earlier this year. Nate, meanwhile, is an electrical engineer at Electric Boat and took time off from working in Guam to see his brother’s NFL moment.