Oct. 18, 2007
By Willie T. Smith III, The Greenville News
As a business administration major on schedule to graduate in May, Furman University linebacker Andrew Jones hopes to open a small business.
Actually, he has owned one since high school.
Jones has been making and designing T-shirts for family, friends and anyone interested both in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala., and at Furman.
"Hopefully, when I graduate, if I have the opportunity, I may try to further that," Jones said. "I've been doing it since high school, customizing one T-shirt at a time. It's something I really do as a hobby, but I enjoy."
Jones is currently concentrating on something else -- making sure his final collegiate football season ends on a high note.
Jones has been a fixture at linebacker virtually since enrolling at Furman. Injuries to other players forced him into action as a freshman, and he has been a starter ever since.
A two-time All-Southern Conference selection, Jones entered the season as an All-American candidate. There also is the possibility of the National Football League.
The Paladins enter Saturday's game at Southern Conference foe Chattanooga with a 2-4 overall record, including 0-2 in the league. Postseason honors and the NFL are not foremost on Jones' mind.
After participating on three playoff teams and one SoCon champion, Jones is determined to make sure the team's rough start doesn't continue.
"We're at the bottom, not at top as usual in the win column," Jones said. "But we're going to continue to prepare and go into each game the same way every week -- always having a winning mentality with a game plan that prepares us to win."
Coming off the most disappointing outing of the season -- a 54-51 overtime loss against The Citadel -- Jones hopes the defense is ready to return to form against Chattanooga (2-4, 2-1).
"Our senior year isn't going the way we would have liked it," Jones said. "But it's the game of football. It always comes with adversity. You never know what will happen. You just have to be able to deal with it."
