Jones motivated by mom’s cancer
Lake Howell alum was inspired by mother’s courage to reach NFL.
Christian Jones calls his mother “Superwoman.”
“She’s always been a strong woman,” the Detroit Lions linebacker says of Tarralyn Jones. “Even like times when dad wasn’t there all the time, she was there with the three of us [brother Brian and sister Candace], and mom was always making sure that we had everything we needed. Even when she was going through all of that, she was always making sure everyone was OK.
“She’s somebody that, you know, everything else is bigger than just herself. She just tries to be strong for everybody else.”
Jones, a former Lake Howell High All-American (2010) who also played at Florida State, is referring to his mother’s cancer battles. Three bouts, to be exact. Tarralyn Jones has survived two battles with breast cancer and a third with brain tumors.
She’s always been a strong person, so there’s never been anything “Superwoman” couldn’t handle.
Chemotherapy? No problem. A partial mastectomy and plastic surgery rebuild? Bring it on. Radiation treatments? Nothing to it.
Gamma-knife surgery? Fine. Not even the pain, the unknown and, of course, the hair loss.
“The first two times, I was young,” said 28-year-old Christian Jones, who will be in the starting lineup Thursday during the Lions’ annual Thanksgiving matchup with the rival Chicago Bears at Ford Field. “She just did such a good job of trying to keep everybody positive. At that time,
“She’s somebody that... everything else is bigger than just herself. She just tries to be strong for everybody else.”
—Christian Jones, Lions linebacker and Lake Howell product on his mother, Tarralyn, who has fought cancer three times.
it was hard, but it didn’t seem that bad just because of the support we all had from family … the grandparents, the pastor of my church. And all of that support was awesome and something she needed.”
She hid the cancer from all her three children well.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, when Christian, the youngest of the three children, was 12.
“When it first happened, I was shocked because nobody in my family who I knew ever had breast cancer. I just didn’t know. I was like, ‘How did this happen to me,’ ” Tarralyn Jones said. “I was in a complete shell. I was dealing with the shock, dealing with why.
“My kids were small … already in my mind I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, what if I die?’ … All of this stuff going through my head, but once I started going through the treatments all that kind of subsided.”
Her husband, Willie Jones Sr., played at Florida State and with the Oakland Raiders in the NFL. He saw how strong his wife was while dealing with all her setbacks.
“It was tough, but I guess we just didn’t realize how tough it was because with her, she goes through things like that so easily that you don’t worry about it because she don’t seem to be worried about it,” Willie said. “Her faith is strong, and she always believes she’s going to beat it and she has beaten it.
“She does have to continue to take medication … but she’s just an amazing person with the way she dealt with the crisis and adversity.”
Tarralyn figured she was better off just facing her reality head on.
“I said, ‘You know what, let me just go ahead and get through this. I got kids, I love my job, my friends, my family. I got people praying for me. I’m going to get through this,’” she said. “And from that point, my mind just stayed focused.”
It’s that kind of focus and determination that Christian started to draw from when he began facing his own setbacks at Florida State. Uncharacteristic of the well-mannered big kid from Lake Howell High, the boy they called “Cheese” because of his huge grin, started to stumble. After the Seminoles won a national championship, Christian lost his focus and let things slide.
In 2012, Jones led the Seminoles in tackles with 96. He was on the All-ACC team. He could do no wrong. Then came the failed drug tests. He tested positive for marijuana and was suspended for a game by then head coach Jumbo Fisher. His tackle numbers fell off, recording 40 less during his senior season in 2013. His NFL draft stock plummeted.
There he was, the kid who had it all going for him, and suddenly everything had fallen apart. He didn’t get drafted.
“The NFL, you know, has a low tolerance for repeat offenders, so two times in college and once at the combine and at the Senior Bowl, I guess it becomes a little too much for an industry such as the NFL,” Willie said. “They have zero tolerance for drug use or abuse. … But even with all that, I was always confident that he would be an NFL player.
“Of course, I was taken by surprise as much as anybody, but by the grace of God he made it through. He survived that day and it was tough on him and he moved forward immediately. He didn’t hold grudges.”
It shocked Christian, but he took responsibility for his actions.
“At that time, I felt like I was kind of on top of the world and everything was going good. I had a pretty good season and coming off a national championship year,” Christian said. “I feel like I was too caught up on that high that I kinda just lost myself a little bit. I don’t ever harp on it because I’m a firm believer that things happen for a reason.
“I feel like that happened and it’s the reason why I’m still here today. I don’t take anything for granted and I take advantage of every opportunity that I have because this is a tough business and you have to stay on the straight path, or you can be out quick.”
His mother sensed he needed a wake-up call to get back on track.
“I had a dream before the draft that something was happening,” Tarralyn said. “We were walking [near a pool] and Willie fell in the pool and the pool cleaner started sucking him under. He was drowning. And Christian fell right in after him. … a groundsman there ran over and turned the thing off and he pulled Willie out and then he pulled Christian out.
“I started thinking, ‘What does this dream mean?’ What it meant was that Christian was falling down the same path as his father, but he was pulled out in time. I
had that dream maybe four or five days before the draft.”
Willie was drafted by the Raiders out of FSU in the second round in 1979 and played three seasons, leading the team in sacks with 10 his rookie season. The Raiders won the Super Bowl in 1981, but off-field issues crushed Willie’s career.
“They said he was one of the best defensive ends, but then he just got off track,” said Tarralyn, who is Willie’s second wife and was not married to him at the time. “He got caught up with all of the money and he had problems with weed and things of that nature that hindered him from furthering his career. Christian was going down that path.
“When these guys get hit with something very hard, it makes them think twice. … They get put on this platform and they tend to forget they gotta be careful.”
Christian’s slap in the face was not getting drafted.
“Christian is Christian. People look at him like, ‘Do you ever stop smiling?’ ” Tarralyn said. “But what happened to him with the draft, it did something to him. He was totally caught off guard with that. He never thought that would happen to him.
“When that last player’s name was called … he walked out of the door to the house and he took off. His dad went after him and tried to get him to sit down and talk, but he didn’t want to talk. After that, though, that phone would not stop ringing.”
Friends, family, former teammates — they all called to offer support. Then the teams started calling. All of the NFL teams that had passed him by in the draft. The call from the Chicago Bears was the one that stood out most to him and he signed a free-agent contract with the Bears.
“When he got to Chicago, he had to go in really hard to show them just who Christian Jones really was and, I’m serious, it made him into who he is to this day,” Tarralyn said of her son, who is in his second season with the Lions. “He’s doing really well, he’s happy in Detroit and he just feels like it’s going to be a really good match for him.”
Christian signed a two-year contract extension earlier this month that could keep him in Detroit through the 2021 season.
“His dad is always telling him what to do, what to expect if things don’t happen a certain way,” Tarralyn said. “NFL stands for Not For Long, and once you get there, you need to utilize every opportunity you can to stay there, but also you have to prepare for the time when you are no longer there.”
Through her job as southern regional coordinator of the Professional Football Players Mothers Association (PFPMA), she tries to help families not only with their transition into the NFL, but also their preparation for what happens after the NFL.
“People ask me all the time, ‘These are grown men, why do they need this from their moms?’ Believe me,” Tarralyn said. “They need it. All they know is football, football, football. They all need somebody looking out for them.”
Tarralyn has always done a good job looking out for her family, but she needed guidance when her third cancer diagnosis hit in 2014.
When she started having major headaches, she thought it was no big deal.
This time was different. She was returning to Oviedo after a visit to her mother’s house in Melbourne and she was taking quite a long time to get back home. Her family started to worry. She was 20 minutes from home when she called her sister to say something wasn’t right. She thought she was having a massive migraine. She had forgotten how to get home. Finally, an hour later, she arrived to worried family members.
“I was like, ‘Well, Tylenol will knock it out,’ and my sister said, ‘No, we’re going to the emergency room,’ ” Tarralyn said.
She’s grateful her sister insisted on the visit.
“I am a miracle. I am not ashamed to say that. I am a miracle because people just don’t get through those things like that,” Tarralyn said. “I thank God every day. They told me the last time, with the tumors, that if I had just laid down, I would not have woken up, I’d have been dead. I am very fortunate to be sitting here.”
Christian knows he’s very fortunate he’ll be lining up as one of the Lions’ starting linebackers Thursday. Things could have gone south quickly after he wasn’t drafted.
“I just say like never give up on anything. I feel like some things that I went through just going undrafted and some things in college, leading to where I am now, my mom showed me that … it’s just a miracle that I’m still here [in the NFL],” Christian said. “So, I just never give up and keep pushing. Bad things happen but it’s on you to determine what’s next, and I always try to keep that in the back of my head.”