It is lunch time on a Wednesday and Greg Jones is busy. He has a lot on his mind. But that’s nothing new for the 17-year-old at John F. Kennedy High School.
Hopping into an early 80s 900 Saab and trying to unwind with some rap music before grabbing a quick meal after a test in a tough, accelerated physics class, the 41st winner of The Denver Post Gold Helmet award, presented to the senior who excels in football, academics and citizenship, reflected on some of his many responsibilities. “I like to be involved in something,” he said. “If I’m sitting around I don’t really feel good about it.”
Jones hasn’t sat around since he learned to walk. The Denver native is rated by some in collegiate circles as the second-best linebacker prospect in the country, as a 3.8 grade-point average and regularly gives back to a community that relishes his presence.
“Greg is a kid that in just about anything he participated in he took pretty seriously,” Kennedy assistant principal/athletic director Larry Lindauer said.
“A gentleman,” principal Bernadette Seick said.
“I’ve lived here since 1967 and I cannot think of ever having heard of an individual more talented in athletics overall than Greg Jones,” Lindauer said.
He’s also respectful, patient, quiet and shy. Good thing, too, because Jones, the 6-foot-5, 205-pound middle child of John and Shirley Jones, virtually was under attack from recruiters. A check of Jones’ bedroom closet in the family’s rented townhouse in Bear Valley reveals a box the size of a large car trunk full of letters, media guides and promises.
“A Who’s Who of college football,” Commanders football coach Bruce Abeyta said.
“When it first started it was pretty fun,” Jones said. “Then it just started to be too hectic and I had to say no to colleges. I was stressed out.”
Jones, however, has remained unflappable. He feels good about having committed Thursday night to the University of Colorado. Rash judgements and losing is composure are not part of his character.
“You almost have to go up there and hit him with a baseball bat to get him to do anything,” Abeyta said. “But once you did you’d be in trouble, you know what I mean?”
Jones on the football field.
Jones stands alone in Colorado, not only in football but as a three-year star.
“Every time you turn around you see him excelling in whatever he participates in,” Lindauer said.
He has made eight All-America football teams, including Parade and USA Today, according to Abeyta, and is one of eight finalists for Gatorade’s choice as national player of the year. He had 24 sacks in ’91, no wonder. He can cover 40 yards in 4.55 seconds.
“He killed us,” Montbello coach Andre Shaw said of Jones, who also was a tough blocker at tight end.
Jones has huge hands and wears a size 14 shoe. Don’t let that slender frame fool you. Adding some much-needed weight has become a priority.
He has played basketball on the organized level only since ninth grade. He can look severely limited away from the blocks, particularly at the free-throw line, but his 42-inch vertical leap makes in an inside presence. And — get this — Kennedy coaches swear John Thompson of Georgetown inquired.
“One of the Purdue (football) coaches was here and asked, ‘just how high he can jump?’ So we stopped, and got out the board and the chalk. He can almost touch the top of the backboard.”
In track and field he owns no individual state titles but watch out this spring. He cas cleared 6-5 in the high jump, 22-7 in the long jump and 47-8 in the triple jump and runs on the 400-meter relay team.
“I’ve dreamed of playing professional football ever since I was young,” Jones said. “. . . I don’t want to sound cocky. I just want a chance to compete for a starting position (at CU).”
“If I’m wrong, then a lot of colleges are wrong, too,” Abeyta said. “He’s a can’t-miss prospect.”
Jones in the classroom.
Jones developed his own study habits.
“He just always did it, I never had to get after him,” Shirley said. “I’d ask him if he did his homework, and he’d say, ‘Mom, it’s already done.'”
Jones, 25th in his class of 190, has never been below 3.76 in any semester. He’s angry, however, that all of this recruiting business has taken too much time. He yearns for 4.0. “But my scores are still pretty high,” he said.
“He isn’t at the top but he’s certainly competitive in the academic field,” Lindauer said. “It’s a moderately difficult schedule over the years but to be a school leader and do the things he does, it’s truly amazing.”
A standout citizen.
A former boy scout, Jones helped community clean up efforts and distributed fliers for local businesses. He also served on a committee at Kennedy that developed a school-improvement policy.
Since ninth grade he has been active in DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), speaking at elementary school. “Drugs just affect your ability to do anything, your brain for school and your body for sports,” Jones said. “It’s their choice.”
“He has this enormous responsibility of being a good role model,” Seick said. “This is something that he must carry.”
“I can’t come up with a single thing about that kid that’s disrespectful,” Lindauer said.
Everyone at school, it seems, knows Jones. He can’t walk down the hallway without somebody saying something to him. Gang members do not recruit him. Racists do not address him. He has a stable family life.
“(His parents) are present at every football game, every basketball game, everything,” Seick said.
John is an Equal Opportunity Officer for the Bureau of Reclamation and Shirley teaches seventh grade. Both are graduates of Howard University in Washington, D.C. and “take a lot of pride in raising their children. Kids like Greg don’t happen by accident,” Abeyta said.
“There’s a driving force behind them and in this case it’s his parents.”
