Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones was homeless for the bulk of his childhood.
He and his mother lived in motels and homeless shelters, and even spent nights sleeping in parks around San Jose. That was the case until Jones was 15 years old.
In a feature on Sunday NFL Countdown, James opened up about his experience.
“To be honest with you, living in the homeless shelter was probably the easiest part because you knew for three months, you were going to have a roof over your head…the same roof. The hardest times were leaving the homeless shelter.”
Jones was highly motivated to get his mother out of this situation, so when he was in high school, and his friends were encouraging him to party, he opted to go to the gym instead.
He became a successful high school and college football player, and was taken in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft by the Packers. However, it wasn’t all touchdowns and Super Bowl rings.
After Jones signed a three-year contract with the Raiders, they cut him, which triggered all kinds of emotions from his childhood.
Check out this authentic interview.
