Chris Jones, the defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs, faced uncertainty about his future when his contract expired following the 2023 season. But after winning his third Super Bowl he joyfully expressed his desire to continue playing for the Chiefs, and they heard him. Impressed by his performances over the years, the Chiefs have now offered him a massive 5-year contract extension worth a stunning $95 million.
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After playing eight seasons in the NFL, all with the Chiefs, Jones is set to stay with them until the 2028 season as per his new contract. As of now, he has achieved a milestone and already has a career earning of $90.1 million. However, his journey wasn’t always smooth sailing.
Hailing from a small town in Mississippi, he once considered leaving football behind to try his hand at another sport. In an interview with the Chiefs from 2017, Jones shared a deeply personal part of his life, revealing the challenges he faced while growing up.
In fourth grade, Chris Jones faced a tough situation when his dad went to jail, leaving his mom to care for him and his two sisters. Chris Jones attended Nettleton School and his mother worked in Tupelo, which was a bit away from Nettleton.
“My mom, she was like supporting three kids. We had to wait till seven o’clock and my mom get off from Tupelo to Nettleton. We still went to Nettleton school. That’s like a 45 minute drive. So I’m gonna get there like eight. We’ll drive from Nettleton come all the way to Houston, and we will stay on my grandmothers house.”
Despite the distance, his mother made the effort to travel from Tupelo to Nettleton to pick him up from school. They would then travel together to Houston to stay at his grandmother’s house. This routine continued for a while until he transferred to Houston High School in his junior year to play football for the Hilltoppers.
“My senior year that’s when I moved in with my dad. So I stopped playing football. And I thought I was gonna be a basketball star.”
Then, in his senior year, he moved in with his dad, which led him to stop playing football altogether. It was at this time that he decided he wanted to become a famous basketball player.
Chris Jones also had a basketball court next to his grandma’s house where Jones spent countless hours playing. He would even spray paint lines on the court for a three-point and free throw line turning it into their own little sanctuary.
Despite his aspirations for basketball, fate had other plans for Chris Jones. He chose to attend Mississippi State in 2013 and was eventually selected by the Kansas City Chiefs as the 37th overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, setting him on the path to becoming a successful football star.
From Humble Beginnings to NFL Success
In the same interview, Chris Jones fondly recalls his early days, when he lived in his grandmother’s house, surrounded by family. He describes the cramped conditions, with 11 people living in a space meant for fewer. Chris stated,
“So it was like my grandmother had the room. My auntie had a room. My parents had a room…. But we had like 11 people in this house.”
Although the crowded house was filled with love and laughter, it had little space for the star defensive tackle. Jones reflected on the small couch he slept on with his legs hanging off. In an interview with Arrowhead, Chris Jones shared that the first thing he did after getting drafted was call his grandmother. They reminisced about how he used to sleep on the couch in her living room.
Now that those times are in the past, Chris Jones holds dear the memories of his humble beginnings, appreciating the journey he has come through.
Now, after eight seasons in the NFL, Chris Jones boasts an impressive resume of being a three-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Pro Bowler. During his time with the Chiefs, he has started in 102 out of 123 games, amassing 273 tackles, 75.5 sacks, 175 quarterback hits, 37 passes defended, and 12 forced fumbles. Not giving up on football surely worked out quite well for the Chiefs star.
