1. Maurice Jones-Drew played college football for the UCLA Bruins, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2005.
62 Facts About Maurice Jones-Drew
1. 2.
Maurice Jones-Drew played his first eight seasons with the Jaguars, through 2013.
3.
Maurice Jones-Drew is currently the color analyst for the Los Angeles Rams.
4.
The Spartan football teams that Maurice Jones-Drew played on never lost a single game during his three-year varsity career.
5.
Maurice Jones-Drew was an elusive, high-scoring running back and return specialist on offense and a punishing linebacker on defense.
6.
Maurice Jones-Drew broke a tackle and then sprinted down the right sideline before launching a spectacular forward somersault into the end zone.
7.
Maurice Jones-Drew was rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No 1 all-purpose back in the nation in 2003 by Rivals.
8.
Maurice Jones-Drew is pictured outrunning a slew of defenders on the cover of the book When the Game Stands Tall, which chronicles the De La Salle Spartans' all-time-record 151-game winning streak.
9.
Maurice Jones-Drew ran track for the De La Salle track team and was a member of the Spartans' 4 x 100 metres relay state championship meet team of 2002, which posted a non-finals-qualifying time of 42.20 seconds during the meet's preliminaries.
10.
Maurice Jones-Drew ran for the Bruins' track team at UCLA.
11.
Maurice Jones-Drew accepted a football scholarship to University of California, Los Angeles, where he played for the Bruins under head coach Karl Dorrell from 2003 to 2005.
12.
Maurice Jones-Drew was the fifth player in Bruins history to lead the team in rushing in three seasons.
13.
In 2005, Maurice Jones-Drew set an all-time NCAA single-season record with a 28.5 yards per return average on 15 punt returns, breaking the previous record of 25.9 yards per return held by Bill Blackstock of Tennessee in 1951.
14.
Maurice Jones-Drew established a number of UCLA records, including the career all-purpose yardage record.
15.
Maurice Jones-Drew gave the Bruins the lead for good with 4:16 remaining in the first half when he scooted around right end for a 15-yard touchdown.
16.
Maurice Jones-Drew's final year in college, his junior year, he was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection as a punt returner, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American as an all-purpose back and kick returner.
17.
Maurice Jones-Drew was the first Bruin since Jackie Robinson to lead the country in punt returning.
18.
Additionally, Maurice Jones-Drew was named second-team All-Pac 10 as a running back.
19.
Maurice Jones-Drew gave a sign of things to come when, as a freshman, he rushed for 176 yards on only 18 carries against Arizona State, including an 83-yard scamper down the left sideline to the end zone which put UCLA ahead in the game for good in the third quarter.
20.
Maurice Jones-Drew led the Bruins in rushing that season, becoming the first true freshman to lead the Bruins in rushing since DeShaun Foster in 1998.
21.
Maurice Jones-Drew was named first-team All-Pac 10 as a kick returner by The Sporting News.
22.
Maurice Jones-Drew was passed on by all 32 teams in the draft, most citing his height as the reason why he would not succeed in the NFL.
23.
Maurice Jones-Drew stated this was the reason he choose to wear 32 as his jersey number in the NFL.
24.
Maurice Jones-Drew was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 14.
25.
Maurice Jones-Drew had already broken Jaguars team records by scoring at least one rushing touchdown in eight consecutive games and by gaining 2,250 all-purpose yards.
26.
Maurice Jones-Drew finished third in the NFL in both kickoff returns and touchdowns scored.
27.
Maurice Jones-Drew was one of only two players in the NFL to score at least one touchdown rushing, receiving, and returning kicks.
28.
Maurice Jones-Drew led all AFC running backs in scrimmage yards per touch.
29.
Maurice Jones-Drew finished tied for second in the balloting for Offensive Rookie of the Year, awarded to quarterback Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans.
30.
Maurice Jones-Drew finished the season with 167 carries for 768 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns to go along with 40 receptions for 407 receiving yards.
31.
Maurice Jones-Drew returned a kick-off 96 yards to set up the Jaguars' first score of the night, a Fred Taylor one-yard run.
32.
Three Jaguars offensive linemen were injured in the 2008 season and Maurice Jones-Drew was not as explosive as he was in 2007.
33.
In Week 10 against the struggling Detroit Lions, where Maurice Jones-Drew posted three touchdowns, all in the first half.
34.
In Week 16, Maurice Jones-Drew was given the opportunity to carry the load with Fred Taylor on injured reserve.
35.
Maurice Jones-Drew was used more in the passing game than his previous seasons and he managed 525 yards on 62 receptions.
36.
Maurice Jones-Drew had a record-breaking season in 2009 for the Jaguars.
37.
Maurice Jones-Drew earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 3.
38.
Maurice Jones-Drew became the third player to share the record, as San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore, tied Sanders' record in a Week 2 game against the Seattle Seahawks during the same season.
39.
Maurice Jones-Drew was one of the big components in the Jaguars passing attack, as he had 53 receptions for 374 yards and a touchdown.
40.
Maurice Jones-Drew played the entire 2010 season with a torn meniscus in his left knee.
41.
Maurice Jones-Drew became aware of the extent of the injury in training camp, but tried to keep it a secret to prevent opponents from intentionally taking shots at his knee.
42.
Maurice Jones-Drew was ranked 30th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011.
43.
Maurice Jones-Drew scored 24 total points in the game, which was the most by any player in a single game in the 2011 season.
44.
Maurice Jones-Drew led the NFL in rushing yards during the 2011 season, and broke the Jaguars franchise records for both rushing yards in a season and yards from scrimmage.
45.
Maurice Jones-Drew was named to the 2012 NFL Pro Bowl as a back-up for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice as a result of his spectacular season.
46.
Maurice Jones-Drew was 12th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2012.
47.
Maurice Jones-Drew began the 2012 season by not attending organized team activities or training camp in hopes of signing a new contract with the Jaguars.
48.
Maurice Jones-Drew had two years remaining on a deal he signed in 2009, according to which his average salary was lower than that of fellow running backs Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, LeSean McCoy, Arian Foster, Steven Jackson, DeAngelo Williams, and Marshawn Lynch.
49.
Maurice Jones-Drew was placed on season-ending injured reserve on December 28,2012.
50.
Maurice Jones-Drew finished the season with 86 carries for 414 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go along with 14 receptions for 86 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown in six games.
51.
Maurice Jones-Drew was ranked 98th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2013.
52.
In 2013, Maurice Jones-Drew finished the season with 234 carries for 803 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
53.
On March 28,2014, Maurice Jones-Drew returned to the Bay Area and signed a three-year deal with the Oakland Raiders.
54.
On March 5,2015, Maurice Jones-Drew announced his retirement from the NFL at age 29.
55.
Maurice Jones-Drew finished his career as the Jaguars' second leading rusher of all time behind Fred Taylor.
56.
In 2011, Maurice Jones-Drew appeared as himself along with fellow NFL players Brent Grimes and Sidney Rice in a Season 3 episode of the FX comedy The League.
57.
In 2013, Maurice Jones-Drew joined the list of other tattooed athletes who have appeared in PETA's "Ink Not Mink" ads, posing shirtless in support of their anti-fur campaign.
58.
At age 28, Maurice Jones-Drew resumed his studies at UCLA in 2013 to complete his bachelor's degree, and lived in a dormitory.
59.
Since 2020, Maurice Jones-Drew has been an analyst on Channel 5's Monday Night Football coverage in the UK alongside host Kirsten Watson.
60.
In 2023, Maurice Jones-Drew was part of the ITV commentary team on Super Bowl LVII alongside Darren Fletcher and Jack Crawford.
61.
Maurice Jones-Drew is married to Ashley Jones-Drew Maurice Jones-Drew is a cousin of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety T J Ward.
62.
Since retiring from the NFL, Maurice Jones-Drew has become a vegan.