Focused Brett Jones Hopes to Impress the NY Giants Coaches This Summer

At the New York Giants' rookie minicamp earlier this month, offensive lineman Brett Jones, who worked at his native center position throughout the camp, crouched down into his stance as he waited for the snap count.

Offensive line coach Pat Flaherty called out the “signals” and then yelled out, “Hut!” Jones, the 23-year old rookie from Weyur, Saskatchewan, located in the central part of Canada, burst into the blocking sled with a forceful hand punch.

Flaherty observed, offered Jones an "atta-boy" and then reminded the young man not to drop his hands. 

Jones can probably expect to get a lot of advice from Flaherty as well as his veteran teammates, who next week gather for the start of the Giants’ OTAs.

For Jones, it will be a chance to build on what he started when he reported for the start of the team’s offseason program on April 20. 

The Caregiver

At a young age, Jones knew that he wanted to play football if he ever received the chance.

Initially, his opportunities looked grim. Jones wasn’t highly recruited after high school, so he decided to enroll at the University of Regina where he had an interest in both football and pre-med studies.

While in college, Jones said he noticed that he was getting better at his craft to where he began to think those teams that passed him over when he came out of high school might give him a second look.

“I was able to get playing time at the CIS level, and as the years progressed, I was able to keep getting better, and I realized that, “Hey, maybe there’s a chance that I can play at the next level in the CFL,’” he said by phone from the Giants' training facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

While he was in college, Jones moved in with his grandmother, Helen Roundy, who initially took care of her grandson while he focused on his life as a student-athlete.

Unfortunately, Jones’ grandmother became ill. She initially suffered from heart failure and was later diagnosed with lymphoma.

Suddenly, the roles were reversed. Whereas Jones could look forward to his grandmother caring for him, suddenly he had to care for her; an opportunity that, despite how it came about, he said made him a better person.

“I think it made me think about others more and that it’s not always about you,” he said, recalling how he took his grandmother to her medical appointments.

“In my daily life, I always try to think about what others go through and stuff like that, so it really allowed me to develop and become a more mature person at that age, and that’s why I think no task was too big to overcome.”

A Welcomed Change

Because of what his grandmother went through, dealing with lymphoma—she unfortunately died in 2013—Jones began to ponder a career in medicine.

“I wanted to make a difference for my grandma and help her out, so that was kind of the reason why it meant so much to me to apply and kind of get in because she always thought it would be a better idea for me to go to school,” Jones said.

As Jones completed his pre-med studies—he also studied engineering as a fallback plan—he began his application process into medical school. While he waited, CFL teams who had taken note of his performance in college began to inquire about the 6’1”, 316-pound offensive lineman.

Rather than soak up the attention he was receiving, Jones felt it important to be upfront with those teams about his plans, telling them that if his application to medical school was accepted, he intended to pursue that career path.  

“When I had applied, a few years before, there were other players who had other things that they had wanted to do, and so they weren’t as forthright with the teams, and it didn’t really work out for them,” Jones said, explaining why he didn’t delay his application to medical school and jump right into professional football.

“I wanted to make sure that I started off on the right foot.”

Fulfilling his Destiny

As things turned out, Jones didn’t have to worry about medical school because his application was rejected.

That opened the door wider for football.

“I knew that if I got to a camp, it didn’t matter what round I was picked, I was going to show the team that I could play,” he said. 

Jones was drafted by the Calgary Stampeders, whose head coach, John Hufnagel, was named the Giants’ first offensive coordinator in head coach Tom Coughlin’s regime in 2004.

Jones proved to be something special for the Stampeders. According to Donna Spencer of the Canadian Press, he was the only Stampeder offensive lineman to play in all 18 games (with 17 starts) during the 2013 season.

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

According to Mike Eisen of Giants.com, the rookie offensive lineman won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie Award and the Jackie Parker Trophy, which is awarded annually to the Most Outstanding Rookie in the West Division, in 2013.

Last season, Jones added to his growing legacy when he was voted as the CFL’s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman.

Following the Stampeders’ 2014 season, Jones decided he would give the NFL a try, knowing that he’d have to get used to a few not-so subtle differences in how the Americans played the game, such as how the defensive linemen line up over the offensive linemen’s noses instead of one yard back as is done in the CFL. 

A Golden Opportunity

Jones, who signed with the Giants in February, potentially has a chance to make the 53-man roster.

With a strong summer and preseason, he could find himself in the thick of a competition for the fifth offensive line spot that became unexpectedly available when left tackle Will Beatty suffered a pectoral injury, according to Fox Sports 1's NFL Insider Mike Garafolo, that will sideline him for up to six months.

While it would be a long shot for Jones to land in the starting lineup—New York is already likely to have first-round pick Ereck Flowers in their starting lineup, and it would be highly unusual for them to field two rookie starters on that critical unit—Jones is taking the task before him one day at a time. 

“I just want to make sure that I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing on every single play and that I’m not making those mental errors that are inexcusable,” he said.

“I want to make sure that when I get out there, I know what I’m doing and that I can just work on getting better as an NFL football player. That’s something I’ve been working on over these past few weeks and it’s given me a greater advantage going into minicamps and these OTAs.

Julio Cortez/Associated Press

“I really want to keep going into these practices and get the technique and just keep working to get better. I know when the pads come on and stuff it’s definitely going to be a lot faster and that I definitely have to be ready to play my best.”

As he goes through this growing process, Jones’ late grandmother is never too far from his thoughts, and neither are the lessons he learned from being her caregiver that he hopes to take with him into this next chapter in his life.

“Things come and go in life, and nothing is guaranteed,” Jones said when asked what lesson stood out most to him from the time he spent caring for his grandmother.

“I definitely think that’s something you can take to the professional game, and that is not everything is guaranteed so just put your best foot forward and hope for the best each and every day.”

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand, unless otherwise sourced.

Follow @Patricia_Traina