« FBS Football 2012

Barrett Jones

School
Alabama
Position
Offensive Line
Major
Accounting

Classroom

Jones is just as committed in the classroom as he is on the field and in the community. He holds a 4.0 GPA, earning his degree in just three years in Accounting. He is currently enrolled in graduate school. Academic awards include Dean’s List, President’s List, Capstone Scholar, University Honors Program (top 10% of undergraduate student body), Phi Eta Sigma, The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta, Sigma Alpha Lambda, Omicron Delta Kappa, Blue Key Society, Anderson Society, Phi Kappa Phi. 2008-2009 Southeastern Conference Freshman Academic Honor Roll, 2009-2011 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, 2009 Commitment to Academic Excellence Award, 2010 Commitment to Academic Excellence Award, 2009 ESPN Academic All-America Team (Second Team), 2010 ESPN Academic All-America Team (First Team), 2011 ESPN Academic All-America Team (First Team), 2010-2011 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll and SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Character

Jones earned two of the top character awards in the country last season as he garnered the 2011 Wuerffel Trophy and the ARA Sportsmanship Award. The ARA Sportsmanship Award is given to one outstanding NCAA Division I football player who best personifies the spirit of sportsmanship.

Jones, who has earned a number of athletic awards has started on the offensive line for the last three seasons. Appointed by his coaches and teammates to the Team Leadership Group, he took on the role as ambassador for the University of Alabama on and off campus. Known as a strong team leader and positive influence during good and challenging times, Jones was a humble winner after the Crimson Tide won the National Championship in 2009 as well as when the team failed to reach a BCS bowl for the first time in two seasons in 2010. Barrett has showed not just what a great leader he is but teammate as well. He has played every position along the offensive line over the course of his career at Alabama. He has worked his way from guard to tackle to last season being named the top lineman in the country by garnering the Outland Trophy as the starting left tackle for the national champions. Barrett decided to return to Alabama and not head to the NFL as a high draft pick and will now play center for the Crimson Tide in 2012.

Head Coach Nick Saban speaks highly of him as well, “Whether Barrett Jones was a football player or not, I think that he would be one of the finest people that anyone in this room or anyone everywhere else would have an opportunity to meet. I think when you start getting as old as I am, you think back to the five people that affected you the most, me personally, whether professionally or personally. Other than let’s say, your parents, and Barrett Jones is one of those people that if I was thinking about what five players I ever coached that was as good of a person as I have been around, in terms of his actions, how he did things, the example that he has set, the quality of performance that he had personally, academically, athletically, whatever he chose to do; how he chooses to help other people and serve other people is well-documented. You know, he is a very Christian person. He would be one of the finest players that I have had the opportunity to coach, and someday someone is going to stand up and say that he is one of the five best people that I have ever met that have impacted my life for me, when they get older. He has great parents, comes from a great family, but, it’s all about him. We have a lot of other players here that come from a great family and have great parents and they don’t do what’s right all the time. So, I think that he is just a special person, and I can’t tell you what makes people that way, but he just has all the right stuff; and if we were still trying to get to the moon, he would be my first nomination to be the astronaut to be the captain to get us there.”

Community

Jones has not just been active in the Tuscaloosa community but the entire world as well. The 2011 SEC Community Service team member has made two trips to Haiti to help with aftermath of the earthquake and most recently spent his Spring Break in Nicaragua. He traveled with 31 people, including 13 UA classmates and his family, to help people still struggling with daily life in Haiti. They worked on a school and an orphanage, and helped feed people in need. On his most recent trip to Nicaragua he shared his faith in the classroom and also took to the athletic fields with the children. Barrett was also in the middle of the tornado cleanup in Tuscaloosa. He helped with the gathering and distributing of supplies for those in need and also used heavy equipment to aid in the cleanup and search. On top of these acts in the community he has also participated in all of the school endorsed projects such as: Project Angel Tree, visiting local schools and hospitals, soup kitchens, Halloween Extravaganza and Read Across America, Campus Crusade for Christ Student Leadership Team. He has been a speaker at the 2009 National Championship Game Fellowship of Christian Athletes Breakfast, 2010 Capital One Bowl FCA Breakfast, Various Youth Groups and High School FCA Groups. Has been the recipient of the Charlie Compton Award for Outstanding Christian Leadership, 2011 Mal Moore Leadership Award, 2011 SEC Community Service Team.

Competition

Jones is one of the most talented and versatile offensive linemen in the nation and is a two-time national champion. He captured the Outland Trophy, which goes to the nation’s best interior lineman, and is the third Alabama player to win the award. He was a semifinalist for the Lombardi Award and a unanimous All-American by the AP, AFCA, FWAA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, ESPN.com, SI.com, CBSsports.com and Rivals.com. A first-team All-SEC by the coaches and the Associated Press. Was named the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, which goes to the top offensive lineman in the SEC. He also won the Wuerffel Trophy and the ARA Sportsmanship Award. Barrett started 10 games for the Crimson Tide at left tackle in 2011 and 35 games in his UA career. Alabama football honors include “Jerry Duncan “I Like To Practice” Award” (Attitude and hard work at Spring Practice), “Iron Man Award” (Excellence in Strength and Conditioning), “Up-Front Award” (Best lineman), five time Offensive Player of the week, Dwight Stephenson Most Valuable Lineman Award, selected by the media at the A-Day game in 2011. Has blocked for Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and Doak Walker Award winner Trent Richardson.