Three-time champ goes out an Eskimo
There was a time when Andrew Jones couldn’t be blamed for feeling like it might never end.
By the time the 6-foot-4, 300-pound offensive lineman made his third Canadian Football League stop as a member of the Edmonton Eskimos in 2014, he already had two Grey Cup rings in his collection.
Sure enough, he would add another ring the next year to go a perfect three for three, leaving anyone paying attention to wonder if wherever Jones went, a championship was soon to follow?
“Somehow, my luck ran out eventually. But for a good (amount of ) time, I was doing all right,” said Jones, initially drafted as a defensive lineman out of McMaster in the fourth round (32nd overall) by the B.C. Lions in 2007.
“I could have never planned it, especially the way the first two happened. I was in B.C. and we had a great (2011) year there, but we started out, like, 0-5, and then came back and ended up winning the Grey Cup.
“And then, as a free agent, I went to Toronto and won with Ricky Ray there the very next year. I’m not sure how many times that’s happened to anybody.”
But it’s the third championship that will always stand out.
“I started that game. That was actually the first Grey Cup I ever started,” he said. “I’d been the sixth man in Toronto and B.C., so I had finally gotten that starting spot.
“I got hurt at the end of that game. I didn’t finish it.”
But he did get his name etched on the Grey Cup. And, in the end, it was Edmonton where Jones signed a one-day contract on Tuesday to retire as a member of the Eskimos.
“I’ve been living here full-time since I was playing with the Eskimos. I felt very attached to this team,” said Jones, who earned his real estate licence just before Christmas. “I like it, and plus, I met my fiancée here, so that’s another reason.”
The 35-year-old native of Toronto is hardly the first out-oftown Eskimos player to set down roots here, as he prepares to tie the knot with Edmonton-born Sara Trenn.
“I couldn’t imagine anywhere else I’d want to be,” Jones said. “I plan on setting up shop here for a while, and with meeting Sara, things worked out and we got engaged on New Year’s Eve this year.
“It’s a good time for this transition to happen right now.”
There’s something to be said about going out on his own terms, too. Last year, the game was almost taken away from him.
After following former Eskimos head coach Chris Jones to Saskatchewan following the 2015 Grey Cup win, Andrew Jones found himself without a contract coming into the 2017 season.
“I figured if I hadn’t been called by August, I kind of thought this was going to be the end of it then,” said Jones, who took the opportunity to coach with the Edmonton Wildcats junior program. “Sometimes you don’t want to be around it right away with coaching, but I always liked coaching at different camps all through my football career. So it was definitely a way to stay around the game.”
For a little while, at least. His initiation into the coaching ranks was over nearly as soon as it began, as injuries on the Lions’ offensive line led to Jones’s career suddenly coming full circle. He finished his career in the place where he was drafted.
“After two ( Wildcats) practices, I got called by B.C. and they needed some help out there,” Jones said.
Meaning it’s never really over until it’s over.
Just like when Jones’ former Eskimos teammate, offensive lineman Brian Ramsay, was called back at age 35 to aid Edmonton’s drive to the 2015 Grey Cup title.
“Exactly,” Jones said. “That was awesome for him, I remember that.”
At the same time, Jones said he doesn’t expect more chapters to be written to extend his own football story.
“This is final. I’m excited to move on to the next point,” said Jones, who plans on returning to the Wildcats to do as much coaching as his work commitments will allow. “Eleven years, I’ve had a good career and won some championships, and I’m very happy with everything.
“I guess I would never say never. But I think, at this point, I’m definitely leaning toward real estate. I’m staying in shape, but I haven’t been lifting like I would need to be for football and all that.
“But, I mean, phones can ring. It could happen and it wouldn’t be terrible.”