Some very sad news out of South Bend to pass on today.
Andre Jones, a starter on the 1988 University of Notre Dame team (their most recent college football national championship team) died this morning in Atlanta at the age of 42. He suffered a brain aneurysm yesterday.
Jones is the father of current ND wide receiver TJ Jones. TJ finished his freshman year of 2010 with 23 receptions (five each versus Navy and Tulsa) for 306 yards, including scoring catches against Purdue, Michigan and Navy. He started seven games and played in 12.
Andre 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 89 and 90. He made 147 career tackles, 12 tackles for a loss and caused three fumbles. His top season came as a senior in ’90 when he recorded 58 tackles (second on the squad behind team leader Michael Stonebreaker).
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 theCanadian Football League.
Jones received his degree from the College of Arts and Letters with a major in government (international relations) in 1997 and went on to earn a master’s degree in business from Georgetown. He served as CEO of APR Sports Management, an athletic representation business based in Atlanta.
Jones is survived by his wife Michele and five children.
For an interview/feature on TJ Jones go here
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports You can follow him on Twitter