Cardale Jones
 Jones with the DC Defenders in 2020 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 7 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | September 29, 1992 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6Β ft 5Β in (1.96Β m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 260Β lb (118Β kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Glenville (Cleveland) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Ohio State (2012β2015) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2016: 4th round, 139th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
* Offseason or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Stats at CFL.ca | |||||||||||||||
Cardale Jones (/ΛkΙΛrdeΙͺl/; born September 29, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he was a CFP national champion, and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft. He was also a member of the Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks of the NFL, the DC Defenders of the XFL, the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League (IFL).
Early life
[edit]Jones attended Ginn Academy in Cleveland, Ohio, and played football for Ted Ginn Sr. at Glenville High School.[1][2] Students at Ginn Academy are allowed to play at Glenville High.[2] Jones led the Tarblooders to the OHSAA D-I Championship game in 2009.[3] While at Glenville, Jones also lettered in basketball and track. Jones was ranked by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit.[4] He committed to Ohio State University in October 2011.
College career
[edit]2012 season
[edit]Jones redshirted as a freshman and thus did not play, but nevertheless drew controversy when he posted the following on his Twitter account:
| Cardale Jones (@Cordale10) tweeted: |
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Why should we have to go to class if we came here to play FOOTBALL, we ain't come to play SCHOOL, classes are POINTLESS
The tweet received heavy criticism and Jones was suspended for one game.[8][9] The tweet was featured as an example of bad social media behavior in the "Best Practices on Social Media" section of a textbook for "The Ole Miss Experience," a freshman year class at the University of Mississippi.[10][11] In March 2014, head coach Urban Meyer described Jones as a "different guy" who was "making progress in the classroom."[12] Later, Jones provided context for the tweet:
I remember I was in class, and I think I got, like, a B on a [sociology] exam. It was just something so stupid; of course I didn't feel that way about academics, and I don't. Nobody in this program feels that way, we actually take that stuff very serious around here. It was just a dumbass thing to do. I definitely didn't think that would happen. It was just a stupid thing to do at that time. It was something where I just got pissed because I studied my ass off.
ββCardale Jones, December 2014.[13]
Ultimately, on May 7, 2017, Jones graduated from Ohio State with a bachelor's degree in African-American Studies.[14]
2013 season
[edit]Jones was sparingly used during his freshman season after red-shirting the 2012 season, playing only 39 snaps, attempting one pass and rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.[15]
2014 season
[edit]
Entering the 2014 season as a redshirt sophomore, Jones was third on the Buckeyes' depth chart, behind Braxton Miller and J. T. Barrett. [16][17] Jones made his first start of his college career in the Big Ten Championship Game in place of Barrett, who had been injured the prior week versus Michigan. Jones led the #6 (AP) ranked Buckeyes squad to a 59β0 victory over the #11 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, on the eve of the NCAA football committee's inaugural playoff selection.[18] Jones was named MVP of the game.
Jones made the second start of his college career, and the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 42β35 in the Allstate Sugar Bowl to advance to the College Football Playoff National Championship against the Oregon Ducks. In the College Football National Championship game, he excelled once again and led the Buckeyes to a 42β20 victory over the Ducks. Jones recorded 280 all-purpose yards, scoring two touchdowns. He completed 16 of 23 attempted passes for 242 yards, with one touchdown and one interception and ran for another 38 yards and a touchdown.[19] The day after winning the National Championship, Jones discussed his future football career. In a news conference, Jones said that while he did not officially rule out declaring for the 2015 NFL draft, he believes that he is "not ready for that level yet," partly because he has only started in 3 college football games.[20] Jones confirmed on January 15, 2015, that he would not declare for the 2015 draft, and would stay with Ohio State for at least another year, most probably until he graduated.[21]
2015 season
[edit]
After a competition with Barrett that lasted the entire off-season, Jones was named the Buckeyes' starting quarterback immediately before game time in Ohio State's season opener at Virginia Tech. Both he and Barrett remained listed as co-starters on the depth chart headed into September 12 meeting with Hawaii.[22][23] He set career highs in passing yards and completions against Maryland on September 10, 2015, with 21 completions, 291 passing yards, and two passing touchdowns.[15] After starting the first seven games of the season, he was benched in favor of Barrett.[24] After Ohio State's final home game, he announced his intention to enter the 2016 NFL draft.[25]
Professional career
[edit]Pre-draft
[edit]At the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine, Jones suffered a hamstring injury during his second 40-yard dash attempt, ending his workout prematurely.[26]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | Vertical jump | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6Β ft 5Β in (1.96Β m) | 253Β lb (115Β kg) | 33+3β4Β in (0.86Β m) | 9+3β4Β in (0.25Β m) | 4.81 s | 1.67 s | 2.78 s | 36.0Β in (0.91Β m) | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine[27][28][29] | ||||||||||||
Buffalo Bills
[edit]Despite only starting 11 games in his college career, Jones was selected in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL draft, with the 139th overall selection, by the Buffalo Bills.[30] On June 7, 2016, the Bills signed Jones to a rookie contract. In 2016, he was inactive for the first 15 games of the season as the third-string quarterback behind primary backup EJ Manuel and starter Tyrod Taylor.[31] With Taylor being inactive for the final game of the season against the New York Jets, Jones was promoted to second string. Jones entered the game to begin the fourth quarter after Manuel was benched. Jones completed 6-of-11 passes for 96 yards and no touchdowns with one interception.[32][31]
Los Angeles Chargers
[edit]On July 26, 2017, Jones was traded to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a conditional draft pick.[33]
On September 2, 2018, Jones was waived by the Chargers and was signed to the practice squad the next day.[34] Jones signed a reserve/future contract with the Chargers on January 14, 2019.[35]
On August 31, 2019, Jones was released by the Chargers.[36]
Seattle Seahawks
[edit]On September 7, 2019, Jones was signed to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad.[37] He was released on September 18.[38]
DC Defenders
[edit]Jones was allocated to the DC Defenders of the XFL on October 15, 2019.[39] He signed a contract with the team on November 4, 2019. In his first XFL start, Jones went 16-of-26 for 291 yards and two touchdowns and led the team in rushing, helping propel the DC Defenders to their first win.[40] Jones led the Defenders to the XFL's first shutout, defeating the New York Guardians in Week 2 behind his 276 yards and two touchdowns in the 27β0 victory.[41] He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.[42]
Edmonton Elks
[edit]On May 6, 2022, it was announced that Jones had signed with the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL).[43] Jones was released by the Elks on May 20, 2022.[44]
Massachusetts Pirates
[edit]On December 19, 2022, Jones signed with the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League (IFL).[45] On March 17, 2023, it was reported Jones had refused to report to practice for the Pirates.[46] The Pirates announced they would be moving forward with re-signed quarterback Alejandro Bennifield.[47][48] He was released on August 28.[49]
Career statistics
[edit]Professional
[edit]| Year | League | Team | GP | GS | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||||
| 2016 | NFL | BUF | 1 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 54.5 | 96 | 8.7 | 0 | 1 | 46.0 | 1 | β1 | β1.0 | 0 |
| 2020 | XFL | DC | 5 | 5 | 61 | 113 | 54.0 | 674 | 6.0 | 4 | 7 | 57.9 | 16 | 61 | 3.8 | 0 |
College
[edit]| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2012 | Ohio State | Redshirt  | |||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Ohio State | 3 | 0 | 0β0 | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 62.6 | 17 | 128 | 7.5 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Ohio State | 10 | 3 | 3β0 | 56 | 92 | 60.9 | 860 | 9.3 | 7 | 2 | 160.2 | 72 | 296 | 4.1 | 1 | |
| 2015 | Ohio State | 10 | 8 | 8β0 | 110 | 176 | 62.5 | 1,460 | 8.3 | 8 | 5 | 141.5 | 64 | 193 | 3.0 | 2 | |
| Career | 23 | 11 | 11β0 | 167 | 270 | 61.9 | 2,323 | 8.6 | 15 | 7 | 147.3 | 153 | 617 | 4.0 | 4 | ||
Post-playing career
[edit]On October 10, 2025, Jones signed with the Columbus Aviators, returning to the XFL's successor, the United Football League, as a community ambassador. Though league co-owner Mike Repole joked about Jones potentially reviving his playing career after three years out of professional football, Jones stated that, though he "ha(d) no idea what" his role would entail, that he hoped it would involve a say in the team's backend decision-making.
On September 1, 2026, it was announced that Jones accepted a position as the varsity quarterbacks coach at Staples High School in Westport, CT.
References
[edit]- β Thamel, Pete (January 8, 2015). "Life at military school: Cardale Jones looks back on his time at Fork Union". si.com. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- 1 2 Pluto, Tery (January 8, 2015). "The Cardale Jones story: The big kid from Cleveland leads Ohio State to national championship game". oregonlive.com. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
- β Grega, Jr., James (December 8, 2014). "Third time's the charm for Ohio State with Cardale Jones at the helm". The Lantern. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
- β "Cardale Jones". Rivals.yahoo.com. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β Rauch, Isaac (October 5, 2012). "Ohio State's Third-String Quarterback "Ain't Come To Play SCHOOL"". Deadspin. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β "Ohio State backup QB thinks classes are pointless because 'we ain't come to play SCHOOL'". Yahoo Sports. October 5, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β Grant, Ethan. "Cardale Jones: Ohio State QB Shows True Colors With Football Tweet". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β Hoag, Mike. "Ohio State Suspends QB Cardale Jones for Tweeting Classes Are Pointless". Bleacher Report. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β "Cardale Jones to lead Ohio State vs. Alabama as third-string quarterback". NCAA.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β "Cardale Jones' "We Ain't Come to Play School" Tweet Lives On". Eleven Warriors. October 22, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β "Infamous Ohio State tweet ends up in an Ole Miss textbook (Photo)". Yahoo Sports. October 22, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β "Remembering the 'famous tweet' of changed QB Cardale Jones; Greg Schiano visits practice: Ohio State Buckeyes Urban Meyer quick hits". cleveland.com. March 19, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β "Infamous Cardale Jones tweet a 'stepping stone' β ESPN". ESPN.com. December 23, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- β "Cardale Jones Graduates Today From Ohio State". deadspin.com. May 7, 2017. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
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