Former Notre Dame linebacker and father of current Notre Dame sophomore wide receiver TJ Jones passed at the age of 42 on Wednesday after suffering a brain aneurysm.
Jones, a starter on the 1988 Notre Dame National Championship squad, played outside linebacker for the Irish under Lou Holtz from 1987-1990 before having a brief career in the NFL.
Notre Dame had more details on Jones’s career in an official release.
A four-time monogram-winner, Jones played outside linebacker for former Irish coach Lou Holtz from 1987-90. He played in 42 games overall, starting once as a rookie in ’87, four times during the ’88 championship run and nine times each in both 1989 and 1990. A 6-4, 225-pounder, he made 147 career tackles to go with 12 tackles for loss and three caused fumbles. His top season came as a senior in ’90 when he recorded 58 tackles (second on the squad behind team leader Michael Stonebreaker), after making 49 as a junior in ’89.
A seventh-round selection of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1991 NFL Draft, Jones was the 185th overall selection. He played for the Detroit Lions in 1992 and also for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
A former USA Today second-team prep All-American, Jones came from DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md. He received his degree from the College of Arts and Letters with a major in government (international relations) in 1997 and went on toearn a master’s degree in business from Georgetown. He served as CEO of APR Sports Management, an athletic representation business based in Atlanta.
The sudden passing of Jones certainly comes as a surprise and is a major blow to the Notre Dame family – especially with TJ Jones set to start his sophomore season after a successful rookie season in South Bend.
The thoughts and prayers of the UHND community are with the Jones family
I actually know Andre’s son Jahmai and they are really good people. He was so young and it is so sad to hear about his death. I wish the entire family bessing.