Sumith Prasad
In Starz’s drama series ‘P-Valley,’ Thomas Q. Jones portrays Mane, who flirts with Mercedes Woodbine from time to time. In the eighth episode of the second season, Mane gets released from prison with a tracker in his ankle. He continues to flirt with Mercedes and they end up sharing a night talking. Mane extends his support to her as she deals with several personal and professional concerns. As Jones’ character returns to the show, the viewers have started to be curious about the actor’s life and career, especially regarding his life before the start of his acting career. If you are wondering whether he had played in National Football League (NFL), let us provide the answer!
Did Thomas Jones Play in NFL?
Yes, Thomas Jones did play in NFL as a running back. After playing college football for the University of Virginia, Jones was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2000 NFL Draft. For the Cardinals, Jones had rushed for 1,264 yards. In 2003, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and gained 627 yards, in addition to scoring three rushing touchdowns, during his time at the team. In 2004, he joined the Chicago Bears. In the 2006 playoffs, Jones was an integral player for the Bears. In the NFC championship game against the New Orleans Saints, the running back rushed for 123 yards to lead his team to Super Bowl XLI.
After the Super Bowl XLI loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Bears traded Jones to the New York Jets in March 2007. In 2008, Jones recorded his best season and was subsequently named as the starting running back in AFC’s Pro Bowl. After getting released in 2010, Jones joined the Kansas City Chiefs. During his time with the Chiefs, Jones achieved the 10,000-yard rushing mark and became the 25th player in NFL history to achieve the same. Jones put an end to his football career in 2011. In 2020, he was nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
After concluding his football career, Jones started to pursue acting and even moved to Los Angeles for the same. “When I went to get cast initially, it would be ‘Hey, he’s a former football player, so let’s cast him as an athlete, or as a stereotypical character.’ I really took that personally,” Jones told Aol about the start of his acting career. “Obviously, I played football, but I don’t want to be a football character, I did that for real. I want to act like somebody else, not who I actually am,” he added. Jones appears in ‘Shameless’ and the appearance was the first of many.
Jones also appears in ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ ‘Runaway Island,’ ‘Hawaii Five-0,’ ‘Johnson,’ and ‘Born Again Virgin.’ In 2015, he became a part of the cast of ‘Being Mary Jane’ to portray Brandon/Cutty Buddy. In Marvel’s ‘Luke Cage,’ Jones portrays Comanche in a recurring capacity. As far as his upcoming projects are concerned, Jones is a part of the cast of former ‘P-Valley’ cast member Isaiah Washington-directorial ‘Corsicana’ and Danny Trejo-starrer ‘Heartland Cartel.’
Jones has always been adamant about playing characters he values and not the ones that enforced “negative stereotypes about Black men.” “I wanted to play characters that I could really connect to,” the actor added to Aol regarding the foundation of his desire to pursue acting. It is evident that Jones has been succeeding in doing the same.
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