Donald Jones

While growing up in the inner city of Plainfield, New Jersey, Donald Jones, aspired to become a professional football player. Though surrounded by an environment of drugs and violence, Donald remained on track to fulfill his dreams by focusing on his athleticism, which eventually garnered him an impressive record on the field during his collegiate years and a contract with the Buffalo Bills in 2010. After suffering from complications from IgA nephropathy, an incurable kidney disease, Donald was forced to retire from the NFL very early in his career but he has not allowed the illness to defeat him. Courageously moving into the next stage of his life as a kidney transplant survivor, Mr. Jones has refocused his energy into becoming a successful entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and author who is inspiring thousands by sharing his personal journey of overcoming adversity and beating the odds.

In high school, Donald was labeled an underachiever. He would cut class by climbing out of windows and hang around the wrong crowd. Fortunately, he managed to graduate from Plainfield High School in 2006 and was recruited to play football at Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. From there, he transferred to Youngstown College where he began attracting scouts from the National Football League. When all 32 NFL teams contacted him about playing for their organization, he thought he was dreaming. After all of them asked the following question, “Can you first tell us about the drug bust you were involved in last year,” Jones woke up. He consciously decided that this would not be his defining moment.

Donald Jones entered the National Football League as an undrafted free agent in 2010, signing with the Buffalo Bills as a wide receiver. Quickly becoming one of the teams’ most valuable reserves, Jones made an impressive mark on the field. Concluding his professional football career at the age of 25, he boasts an impressive 82 catches and 887 yards and three touchdowns in 35 games. During the 2012 season, his final year of play, Jones’ accomplishments were at an all-time high, as he caught 41 passes for 443 yards and four touchdowns in only 12 games. Signed by the New England Patriots in March 2013, Donald was released from the team that following July. Diagnosed with IgA nephropathy, a kidney disorder, during his sophomore year of college, Jones voluntarily elected to retire from the NFL in August 2013 as a result of his ailing condition.

Since his subsequent retirement, Jones has immersed himself into impacting communities through an advocacy and social activism approach. Committed to educating others and raising social awareness on numerous health-related issues, in particular kidney diseases, Jones has evolved into a well noted, national motivational speaker intent on sharing his knowledge and personal testimony to generate conversations regarding healthy lifestyle choices. An inherent leader with a determined spirit, Jones has found true purpose in his life focusing on his affinity for education and athletics.

Donald recently published his autobiography, The Next Quarter: Scoring Against Kidney Disease and is President and CEO of Medicoupe, LLC, a medical transportation. He serves as a board member for the IGA Nephropathy Foundation and as a national spokesperson for the Kidney Foundation. He and his wife, Jamila, have one son named Kiion.

Visit Donald online at www.DonaldJones.info