Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — All Braxton Jones wanted out of his football career was a way to pay for college.
By the end of the weekend, football had given him so much more.
The former Southern Utah standout who prepped at Murray High was selected with the 25th pick of the fifth round, No. 168 overall, by the Chicago Bears. His selection was announced Saturday by a group from Sky Sports in the United Kingdom via NFL Network.
"My biggest thing is I didn't want my mom to pay for any of my school," Jones said in an interview with the Big Sky Conference. "SUU was the only one to offer me a full ride. So I got free school, I got to play football, and I became a better person."
Jones is the fourth-ever Southern Utah alumnus drafted in the NFL, and the first since Miles Killebrew and LeShaun Sims were selected in the fourth and fifth rounds, respectively, of the 2016 draft.
The 6-foot-5, 310-pound offensive tackle was a two-time first-team All-Big Sky honoree who burst on the scene with a 4.97-second 40-yard dash and a 4.84 20-yard shuttle run at the 2022 NFL Combine. Murray started all six games at left tackle during the Thunderbirds' 2021 spring season, a role that propelled him to 11 starts in the fall and an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
"I was just very thankful," Jones said. "I feel like guys in the Big Sky don't expect to be in the combine every year, but we do; we expect to have guys in the combine, and to get guys in the league every year. I'm just grateful to be in the position I am. I'm very happy to have the opportunities I had.
"I had the 2021 season I thought I needed to have. I went to the Senior Bowl and stepped up. And at the combine, I put up numbers that nobody thought I would reach. … You've just got to believe in what you've done, and now you hope your name is called."
Looking forward to hearing @braxtonjones742's name at the #NFLDraft this weekend! #ExperienceElevatedpic.twitter.com/C257VpljMh
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) April 28, 2022
In all, Jones, who also played basketball at Murray, appeared in 23 games over four seasons with the Thunderbirds, earning All-Big Sky honors three times beginning with a third-team placement as a junior in 2019.
Back-to-back All-Big Sky first-team selections belied a giant with NFL left tackle prospects and Phil Steel All-American first-team honors in the spring 2021 season and Associated Press FCS first-team All-America selection last fall.
Not bad for a Salt Lake native looking "to stay out of trouble" and "get away from the nonsense" through the game.
"I realized in high school that I might have a chance at this thing," Jones said. "In college, people said I could play in the league if I just continued to be consistent."
