Southern Illinois senior Jay Jones leads the Salukis with six touchdown receptions this season. (Photo by SIUSalukis .com)
By Dan Verdun
Jay Jones waited his turn patiently to see more playing time for Southern Illinois.
“It was a little bit difficult to wait, but I also look at it as a learning opportunity,” the redshirt senior wide receiver told Prairie State Pigskin. “It helped me get better at the game of football. I had some great leaders ahead of me. Those guys taught me a lot.”
Jones has applied those lessons learned and experienced a breakout season for the Salukis this fall. The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder leads SIU with six touchdown catches, including a 63-yarder to open the scoring in Saturday’s home finale against South Dakota.
Jones, who is second on the team with 33 receptions for 621 yards, said he never thought about leaving Carbondale when he wasn’t playing.
“I had a really good connection with the coaching staff here. It felt like family,” he said. “My mom also always said to never be a quitter. Every year I had the goal of helping this team.”
Jones shared his thoughts on splitting time between Chicago and St. Louis, his Thanksgiving memories and which teammate and coach are the funniest.
Get to know SIU receiver Jay Jones in our Moving the Chains Q&A.
Your given name is Jaythen (pronounced Jay-thin). Is there a story behind that?
My mom had a really close friend of hers with the name.
Your SIU biography states that you played high school football in St. Louis. Are you from there?
I’m actually from the west side of Chicago, but I went to St. Louis for high school. My mom did not want me going to high school in Chicago, and she wanted me to be closer to her because she was living in St. Louis at the time. I agreed to move out there with her.
Having lived in both cities, do you prefer one over the other?
I guess I’m a little biased, but I prefer Chicago. It’s also a bigger city with a lot more to do. That’s also where the majority of my family is, so I feel more comfortable there.
Are your favorite teams from Chicago, St. Louis or somewhere else?
I have two favorite football teams, the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well. I was born in Tampa Bay.
You played high school basketball. St. Louis doesn’t have a professional basketball team. What NBA team is your favorite?
The Bulls because I grew up watching them. I like the Houston Rockets because James Harden used to play there and he was my favorite player.
Who is the best basketball player on SIU’s football team?
It would have to be (wide receiver) Tae Marrero Jr. He’s the most polished, for sure. After that, you could probably say (quarterback) D.J. (Williams) or (defensive end) Lukus McDaniels.
What are some of your family Thanksgiving traditions?
Before my grandma passed (in 2018), we used to go to her house and everybody would bring food. My grandma would always cook anyway, but we all gathered there.
What is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal?
Everything. I love food. It got to the point if I were visiting Chicago after I moved, my grandma would already have cake and other stuff made for me. I could just eat whatever.
What is a favorite food that you’ve given up to become a better athlete?
I was big on hot chips. I love chips. When I was a little kid, they would open a bag of chips and I would walk to them. I love chips to this day. I just bought some at the store not too long ago.
I was big on hot fries, hot Funyuns and hot popcorn. I love hot popcorn the most. I don’t know if I can give that up. (laughs)
What is your game day routine like?
I get there when we roll out. On our down time, I listen to music. I also make beats. I try to get myself into that neutral mindset. I also pray right before we go out for the pregame. I pray again right after the game.
What is a skill you’ve always wanted to learn and why?
I want to be multilingual. I want to learn Mandarin or some form of Japanese. Someday, I want to go there and be fluent in the language before I go.
What is something you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t had the chance to yet?
I always wanted to go skiing. I’ve never done that before.
Would you rather go back in time to meet your ancestors, or travel forward to the future to meet your descendants? Why?
Oh, that’s a good question. Honestly, I’d probably want to go forward in time. First, I’d want to meet my future people, but also to see how life will look later. We always hear about history and know that, but I don’t know what to expect with the future.
What makes you laugh the most?
It’s not that hard to make me laugh. Some of my teammates in my position room get me laughing all the time.
Which teammate is the funniest?
I don’t think I can rank them. Everybody has their own way of joking, but if I had to choose . . . I’d go with (wide receiver) Fabian McCray. He’s just natural. He’s just who he is and funny.
Which coach is the funniest?
It’s Larry Warner, the running backs coach. He’s always cracking a joke.
Coach Warner was a heck of a player at SIU. Did you know that?
He never fails to remind us. (laughs)
Dan Verdun is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin. He has written four books: NIU Huskies Football, EIU Panthers Football, ISU Redbirds Football and SIU Salukis Football.
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