USF Athletics

USF Mourns Passing of Bulls' First NFL Draft Pick Kenyatta Jones

June 10, 2018

Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Times

TAMPA, JUNE 10, 2018 – The USF football program's first-ever player selected in the NFL Draft and first member of a Super Bowl winning team, Kenyatta Jones, has passed away suddenly at the age of 39.  
 
Jones' mother, Jessica Hadley-Brown, confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times that Jones passed away due to cardiac arrest in Colorado on Saturday.
 
"It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of Kenyatta Jones at such an early age," USF Interim Director of Athletics Scott Kull said. "Our first NFL Draft pick and Super Bowl champion, Kenyatta demonstrated what USF football would become and was the first of what would be many talented and hard-working Bulls that have followed their dreams to the professional ranks. Our thoughts and prayers and those of Bulls Nation are with his family during this difficult time."
 
A native of Gainesville, Fla., Jones became the first Bull ever selected in the NFL Draft when he was taken in the fourth round with the 96^th pick by the New England Patriots in 2001, just four seasons after the inception of the USF program in 1997. A year later as a rookie, he would also become the first Bull to be part of a Super Bowl winning team as he joined fellow Bull Scott McCready on the Patriots team that won Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002.
 
"What stands out about Kenyatta was that he was so very, very popular with his teammates and on two teams," said USF Associate Athletic Director Jim Louk, who has been the Voice of the Bulls for 35 years. "I was amazed how quickly he won over his basketball teammates when he joined that team and was very much aware of how much he was loved by both teams."
 
A 6-4, 308-pound offensive tackle, Jones was a member of the Bulls' first team to take the field in 1997 and lettered four years from 1997 to 2000. He was named to the second-team Division I-AA All-Independent team in 1998 and earned an invitation to play in the 2000 Blue-Gray Football Classic.
 
Jones was a major part of USF teams that went a combined 27-17 in the first four seasons of the program as the Bulls competed as an independent in I-AA for three years and played a transition season to FBS in 2000. Jones made 38 starts at tackle during his career at USF, including 10 in his freshman season, as the Bulls went 22-5 at home during that span. Prior to his time at USF, Jones, who had the nickname "Bear", was an all-area and third team all-state selection at Eastside High School in Gainesville.
 
Displaying tremendous athleticism, Jones also joined the USF men's basketball program for one season in 1998-99 to help bolster a Bulls' roster depleted by injuries. He appeared in three games during that season and collected two rebounds.
 
"He was a tremendous competitor who contributed in two sports at USF," Louk said. "His getting drafted in 2001 triggered a run of three straight Bulls drafted in a row. You looked at Kenyatta and you thought, 'this program could really be something if we can get athletes like him.'"
 
Jones' selection in the 2001 NFL Draft was immediately followed by the drafting of fellow Bulls Anthony Henry (97^th pick by the Cleveland Browns) and Bill Gramatica (98^th pick by the Arizona Cardinals) as USF had the first three of what now stands at 30 players taken in the NFL Draft. Jones played for the Patriots (2001-03) and Washington Redskins (2003-04) in the NFL and for the Tampa Bay Storm (2008) in the Arena Football League.
 
ABOUT USF FOOTBALL
USF posted its second straight 10-win season in 2017 (10-2) by winning its second straight Birmingham Bowl with a 38-34 victory over Texas Tech. USF is one of just 14 teams nationally to win 20-plus games in the last two seasons (21-4) and has spent a program-record 20 straight weeks ranked in the top 25, reaching as high as No. 13 in Week 8 of the 2017 season. The Bulls have won five of their last six bowl appearances and made nine (6-3) total bowl appearances in 21 seasons, including a current run of three straight bowls. USF won a program-record 11 games in 2016 (11-2) and has posted 14 winning seasons. The USF program, which first took the field in 1997, reached No. 2 in the rankings in 2007 and has seen 28 players selected in the NFL Draft, 14 named All-American and had 32 first-team all-conference selections.
 
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