Once a Wharton Wildcat, Now an NFL Jaguar Hopeful

By his own admission, Joshua Jones’ tryout with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League was a dud.

He couldn’t cover any running backs, he said, and “I was looking sloppy as I ever did.”

Forget the decidedly chillier environs of Quebec. Looking bad appears to have been a good thing, it turns out. Jones, a 2006 Wharton High School graduate, ended up getting a tryout with the Jacksonville Jaguars this spring, and the undrafted rookie linebacker from Elon University signed with the NFL team three months ago. He currently is in training camp, gunning to make the final cut. 

“I wasn’t meant to be good there,” he said of the CFL tryout. 

The local talent got his first taste of an NFL game last week when he suited up for a preseason matchup between Jacksonville and the New York Giants. Game day jitters were not as elevated as one might expect.

“The previous week we had a scrimmage in front of 20,000 fans,” he said during a telephone interview Monday. “I was a lot more nervous in the scrimmage than the game. (The scrimmage) made the game come easier. The game was a lot clearer.” 

Jones isn’t training for the hometown Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but locals are pulling for the 6-foot-1, 235-pounder regardless. A Wharton High School Football Facebook page features several “way to go!” and “congrats” comments directed toward the former Wildcat. Wharton head football coach David Mitchell coached Jones, and he remembers the now 23-year-old as a good kid. Mild-mannered. Humble. Dedicated.

“He’s one of those guys that you really wish the best for just because of who he is in terms of work ethic, personality,” Mitchell said. “It really makes you feel good to know you had a chance to coach him.”

Jones said Mitchell taught him how to work hard, and his best memory is when Wharton knocked off Land O’Lakes in a hair-raising finish to a 2005 championship game during his junior year. 

In case you were wondering, Jones was not a Bucs fan growing up. But you can’t fault the man for loving the Detroit Lions. His father, James Jones, played for them and later the Seattle Seahawks during the 1980s and early 1990s.

The younger Jones, the Elon program's fifth-leading tackler, said the biggest adjustment to playing in the NFL was developing confidence.

“Once I knew I had the potential to play at this level, things got a lot easier,” he said.

Are you a Wharton alum? Wish Jones good luck in the comments below.