Daily Skiff

Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: News

Media Credit: William Wessels Senior Charles Jones played on the football team from 1997 to 2001 and has come back to school to get the 21 credit hours he needs to graduate. Jones was recently named as one of the recipients of the NCAA's Division I Degree Program.

For a running back in football, getting up after a crushing hit from a hard-hitting safety or an oversized defensive tackle may take a little extra time, but, nevertheless, they will get up. In life, however, people don't always have the opportunity to pick themselves up after getting hit by both the unexpected and the inevitable.

In the case of today's student-athlete, it's no different. While people may only see the glamorous side of what may seem like a rewarding lifestyle, they may not see the struggle for balance in a life that generalizes them as being an athlete-student instead of a student-athlete.

Whatever the opinion of today's student-athlete may be, don't question Charles Jones on the merits of what it means to be a student-athlete. Jones, who was recently named as one of the recipients to the NCAA's Division I Degree Completion Program, is in the midst of completing an academic journey that has been more than a decade in the making.

And he's doing it his way.

"It's going to feel like I made it to the top of a mountain I've been climbing for years," said Jones, who will graduate in December with a degree in general studies with a concentration in kinesiology.

His past

Coming out of O.D. Wyatt High School in Fort Worth, Jones was a visible and recognizable figure in the community. His agility and field vision at running back, along with his charismatic nature in the community, brought him to TCU on a football scholarship in 1997 under then-head coach Pat Sullivan. Coming out of high school, Jones said he had a swagger that has since toned down quite a bit.

"I was confident to the point where you could call it conceited," Jones said. "I wasn't the greatest person, but everybody changes and grows in wisdom."

He was described as being confident, rambunctious and a bit of a loudmouth by friend and former teammate Shawn Worthen.

Continued...

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