Bears Super-back Thomas Jones

By Ken Payne
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Durability, leadership, disciplined, talent…these are just a few of the words that pop into my head when thinking about Bears running back, Thomas Jones. Brian Urlacher is certainly the life force behind the Bears defense, but when it comes to the other side of the ball, Thomas Jones is, without question, the heart and soul of the offense. For a team that whose recipe for winning has seemingly forever been defense and a solid running game, Jones has fit right in since signing a 4-year contract to play for Chicago in March of 2004. The University of Virginia star was picked seventh overall in the 2000 NFL draft and for good reason.

Maybe part of the reason that Jones’ headship characteristics and developed capacities for playing the game are at such a high level is the fact that he has spent a lifetime of living as a positive example for little brother, Julius. Julius, the Dallas Cowboys featured running back, has not only had a family of athletes to look up to, but also got the advantage of scrimmaging alongside and against Thomas, as they pushed each other to be the great players they are today. Now as adults and stars in their own right, Thomas feels just as protective of Julius as he did growing up with his brother in Virginia and is still setting the paradigm with his efforts on the field.

Jones has already exceeded 1,000 yards this season, making him the first Bear to hit the mark in back-to-back seasons since Neal Anderson. But make no mistake about it, Jones is quick to credit his success to the Bears offensive line and the great relationship he has, on and off the field, with his teammates. Still, while a personal accomplishment has etched its’ way into the history books evermore, Jones maintains his focus on one thing – a Bears Superbowl victory in Chicago. Though one and out in their last two playoff appearances, he believes, as fans alike do, that there is something special about this Bears team in which a better destiny awaits. After nearly a full season of taking hits and getting slammed over and over again, Jones is more than ready to be a key component during the Bears playoff run.

After getting the chance to hang out with the Bears running back during a Monday Night Football event he was hosting at Chicago’s 4Taste, Thomas elaborated on his bond with his brother, his relationship with an ice tub, his Christmas plans and what an important role the fans have in a Bears Championship.


Buzz S&E – You are the first rusher in Chicago since Neal Anderson to run for back-to-back seasons. That’s got to make you feel pretty special.

Thomas Jones – Well, yeah. I feel really good about it. To get a thousand yards on the ground back-to-back is pretty hard to do in this league, because once you do it one time, you kind of have a bulls-eye on you and it makes it much harder for you to do it the next year. But God bless, he kept me healthy all year, and the offensive line – we’re really good friends. The whole offense is really close-knit and that makes a big difference when you have that kind of relationship. The credit goes to them [the offensive line], the receivers blocking downfield…it’s a total team effort and I’m excited about that.

Buzz – As far as the offensive line…Do you hang out with them off the field as well?

Thomas – Yeah, definitely. We all hang out together after practice. We go to dinner together…we’re around each other quite a lot and that’s why I think we’re so successful. We have a good relationship and it goes beyond football, we’re more of a family. That makes it a little easier when you go to work every day and face the difficulties that you have to face when you’re doing it with a guy you care about.

Buzz – Is there a team that you see coming up on your schedule that you might say for example, “Oh great, here comes Ray Lewis”?

Thomas – There’s some great guys in this league on defense. Ray Lewis is a guy that you’ve got to watch out for – Zach Thomas is another one. The great thing is, is that we play with two of the best linebackers in the league on our team, Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. We see them everyday in practice so that makes it a little easier for us when we get in the game because we’re already playing at a high level.

Buzz – We watch you playing on TV or see you from the crowd as you run and take hits and shots for 60 minutes every week. Most of the time you bounce up and run back to the huddle as though the hits didn’t bother or hurt you. What’s it really like the next day when you wake up in the morning?

Thomas – It kind of feels like you were in a car accident, man (laughs). Some of the injuries that we have, you could only get if you were in a car accident. There’re constantly collisions, heavy hard-hitting collisions, you’re constantly on the ground – guys are always falling on you, and these aren’t little guys. Defensive linemen can weigh between 270 and 370 pounds. You know, I’m 215 pounds and it helps when you’re trying to run past them, but it’s kind of hard when they catch you because they can fall on you or do whatever they can to get you on the ground. But the next day is definitely a tough day just to recover. The ice tub is my best friend just because sometimes I’ll have inflammation in certain areas – maybe my knee, hip, thigh…

Buzz – And that’s just dealing with the injuries you know about… Thomas – Yeah, sometimes you don’t even feel injuries until the next day. That’s probably the most annoying part. You think you got through the game ok and then you wake up the next day and something’s throbbing that you didn’t even feel the day before.

Buzz – How long does it take for you to feel ready for the next game?

Thomas – It usually takes me until about Thursday to start feeling like myself. Monday, I’ll work out, after the game, just to work the soreness out. If I’m extra sore I’ll work out throughout Tuesday. Wednesday’s practices are always the worst because you’re trying to get back in the groove of things and your body’s still sore. That’s why I said Thursday because by then you’re usually back in your stride and back to normal.

Buzz – You come from a football family and even have a brother, Julius, who is also a pro running back in the NFL – for the Dallas Cowboys. Did you both start out as running backs?

Thomas – Yeah, we both started out as running backs in “peanut football” – that’s what we called it in my area. We always loved the game of football. My dad got us into football at an early age and all of our uncles were into football. I have one uncle [Ed Clark] who really stood out. He set a lot of the Virginia State records. He’s kind of legendary in my area. He played for the university of Purdue and actually played in the Canadian Football League, too. But I have a lot of uncles and all of them have played football, basketball, ran track, so I came from a pretty athletic family. But growing up with Julius has been very special. He’s kind of like my kid, in the fact that I feel like I really taught him a lot of things – just the simple things in life – riding a bike, how to tie his shoes…I taught him all those things and I took pride in that. I’m definitely excited for him and happy that he’s having success early in his career. It’s really a blessing for two brothers to be in this position in the NFL. It’s really hard to rush for 1,000 yards and we were both able to do that in the same season. That’s definitely a blessing.

Buzz – How often do you and Julius contact each other? Do you go over how each other played each week?

Thomas – Yeah, we talk before games because we’re in the same conference and a lot of times we play the same NFC teams. When I’m watching film all week, it may be a team that he’s played against, so I’m watching him to see how he ran against them. I’ll try to get some pointers on how I may have success against the same team. But we talk a couple times a week. We talk before every game. Sunday mornings we always talk and just encourage each other, tell each other to be careful, hold onto the ball, tell each other we love each other, and to give a call after the game. I still get butterflies when I see him out there, and he still gets butterflies when he sees me out there. It’s just strange knowing the guy that you grew up with…We shared a room until I went to college – twin beds, side by side, ever since we were kids. To watch an NFL football game and know that’s your little brother out there…it’s just a special feeling.

Buzz – Who’s the rowdier brother?

Thomas – I would have to say me. We’re both laid back, but I’m very protective of my brother. I always feel like I have to look out for him and know that he’s ok even though we’re both grown men now. I’m probably the one who would tend to get a little rowdy or step up to the plate if something were to happen, especially if it had something to do with him.

Buzz – There’s a good chance Dallas could play the Bears in the NFC Championship game. Who do your parents root for?

Thomas – It’s very hard to root…either way they win. Both of us are on different teams. They’d want both of us to win, but obviously that’s not possible. They just want us to do well and the better team will win. They’ll root for both of us to do well.

Buzz – Speaking of the playoffs, The Bears went one and out in their last two playoff appearances. Does the team have a different mindset this year?

Thomas – When you have to games to get to the Superbowl, that’s pretty special. We have home-field advantage and that’s something we need to take advantage of. We have very lively fans in Chicago, and hopefully it will be cold since we’re kind of used to playing in the cold weather. It’s something that we really look forward to. We still have a bad taste in our mouths from last year when we lost to Carolina, and we’re a different team now. This year we won the division and we weren’t really excited about it just because we still have a lot of work to do. We’ve secured the bye week, won home field advantage and we’re still not happy about it. I don’t think we’ll be happy until we win the Superbowl because that’s what we talked about all year.

Buzz – How’s your relationship with Rex Grossman on the field? You have to communicate constantly.

Thomas – We have to communicate. He’s the leader. He’s behind the center calling the plays. He makes the audibles and things like that, but we have to be on the same page. I need to know how he’s thinking so I can be prepared to make any changes necessary. We talk a lot, even through the course of the game. If I see something that’s going on, I’ll try to warn him about certain situations. We have a really good relationship, a really good relationship. He’s the type of quarterback who listens to what you have to say – we listen to everything he has to say. We really communicate well. The whole team is really close-knit, kind of like a family. We stick behind each other one hundred percent. I think that’s why we’re so successful this year.

Buzz – Rex had that clunker a few weeks ago against Minnesota and so many people screamed for Brian Griese, even though The Bears still won. What was your initial feeling about the situation? Did you feel any doubt that Rex was still the man?

Thomas – We were still in his corner – he’s a teammate. Coaches make those kind of decisions as far as making changes with personnel. That’s what they get paid to do. As a running back, we can only control what running backs do. We get paid to play football and that’s what we do. When someone does something not so good, I understand the media will talk about it. But sometimes I think the media will harp on it far too much and just run it into the ground until people get tired of hearing about it. It’s kind of frustrating because you go out there and play as hard as you can, for the city of Chicago and the Chicago Bears’ fans, to go out there and win, and as soon as someone has a bad game or if something doesn’t go right, everyone’s quick to call out for a change. They’re quick to say, “This guy belongs on the bench.” They have a short memory. They forget that just a week or so ago the guy had however many touchdown passes. It’s unfortunate that that’s the way the business is sometimes.

Buzz – On a more personal note, how do you spend the holidays?

Thomas – On Christmas day I’m going to deliver some gifts downtown to different families, then pretty much just rest up a bit. I’ll probably go over to John St. Clair’s house - he’s one of my best friends. We were actually roommates in college at the University of Virginia. So I might go over to his house and eat with him and his family – his wife, mother and father-in-law. You know, just go over there and hang out over there for a little bit and just enjoy it. My mom and dad are back in Virginia and I still have a little sister at home. Most of my family will be home. Of course, I can’t go back home. My little brother can’t go home. Actually, he has a game, so I’ll be watching his game on Monday. They’re playing Philadelphia so that’ll be exciting. Pretty much that’s it, man. Holidays for us are strange because we can never go home. We’re either playing a football game or something’s going on that we can’t go home. But I can’t complain. I’m doing something that I love to do, and I’m sure that once I’m done playing football I’ll have plenty of Christmas’s and Thanksgivings to spend with my family.

Buzz – So did the Bears throw you a Christmas party?

Thomas – Yeah, we actually had a Christmas party last week. A lot of the guys on the team went. I wasn’t able to go. I had something I had to do, but it’s always a nice party.

Buzz – What would you say to the Chicago Bears fans who will read this interview?

Thomas – Just to keep giving us their support and to stay positive. Hang in with the team even if things aren’t going well. We really depend on the fans to have our back and be there for us whatever the situation is. And they’ve done a great job at doing that, but this is going to be really special, going into the playoffs with home-field advantage as we try to win a Superbowl for the city of Chicago. When I think in my mind about winning a Superbowl here…I was at a fan convention and they showed on TV the parade that the ’85 Bears had with all their floats and everything on Michigan Avenue, and seeing all the fans just gave me chills, man. We don’t know when we’ll get to this point again. It’s so hard to get home-field advantage for the playoffs because every team is good. I’d just ask the fans to stick with us, stay positive and make as much noise as they can.

Buzz – You know if you win the Superbowl this city will be talking about you 50 years from now.

Thomas – That’s fine, but more importantly this is a great city to play football for – the tradition, the great players that have come through this organization. I’m definitely proud to be here and excited about the opportunity we have coming in the playoffs. We are a very hungry team. We have a lot of doubters, and a lot of people who say negative things about us, but that’s just more motivation for us to prove people wrong. I think there’s something very special about this team this year and hopefully we’ll find out what it is in the playoffs.