Arizona Cardinals star Chandler Jones has accomplished a lot of things in his 30 years of life. In college, the 6-foot-5, 265-pound pass-rusher was a two-time All-Big East selection. After that, Jones was selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Now, some eight years later, Jones is a two-time First-Team All-Pro selection and one of the best players in all of the NFL.
However, despite all of his accomplishments, there's one thing that reigned supreme in Jones' mind: getting his college degree.
The Pro Bowl pass rusher left Syracuse University for the NFL Draft just one class shy of graduating with a degree in child and family studies. This offseason, Jones finally went back to school to finish what he had started.
Jones had pondered the move for over two years, but in January, the 30-year-old Cardinals defensive end enrolled in his final family studies course and took the class online between daily workouts
Jones finished that course and earned his degree earlier this May, and the Cardinals star spoke on what getting his degree meant to him and his family.
“To my family and personally, education is very important,” Jones said, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN. “Even though I haven't used my degree, as of yet, I'm pretty sure it would definitely come in handy when I'm done playing football. But that's the reason why I went back after eight, nine years of being out of college. I think that's very important. My kids could look back and say ‘My dad graduated.' So, I'm happy. It's a huge accomplishment for our family.”
On the field, Chandler Jones continues to dominate. Last season for the Cardinals, he recorded 53 tackles, 19 sacks, 11 tackles for a loss, a league-high eight forced fumbles, five pass deflections and three fumbles recovered.
Going into his ninth NFL season, Jones says his new degree is now hanging up right next to the Super Bowl ring he won with the New England Patriots in 2015.
Follow Us
Subscribe