Chris Jones Reveals the Childhood Struggle That Nearly Kept Him From Playing Football
· Yahoo Sports
Kansas City Chiefs star Chris Jones has spent more than a decade terrorizing NFL quarterbacks, but organized football wasn’t even an option for him during much of his childhood.
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Long before he became a face of the Chiefs’ championship era, Jones grew up in Houston, Mississippi, where his family struggled financially. In a 2017 profile on the Chiefs’ official website, Jones explained that youth football alone kept him from signing up.
“I couldn’t afford peewee when I was a kid—it was like $180 to sign up and then you had to buy your own cleats and all that, I couldn’t afford that,” Jones told the team’s official website.
Football eventually found its way into his life in high school. Nearly two decades later, Jones enters the 2026 season as Kansas City’s longest-tenured defender and the veteran at the center of a rebuilt defensive line.
Chris Jones Says His Family Couldn’t Afford Peewee Football
Jones grew up in a small Mississippi town of roughly 2,500 people. His father spent years building furniture but was absent for a significant part of Jones’ childhood after serving time in jail following a DUI. Jones, his mother, and his two younger sisters had to manage without him during those years.
Jones described the financial reality of his childhood plainly.
“Houston isn’t a rich place, and there aren’t suburbs in Houston,” Jones said. “We grew up in the slums.”
Without organized youth football, Jones found another way to play. Games at his grandmother’s house put the teenager on the field with players much older than him.
“I used to get the entertainment off backyard football. They use to throw like backyard champions at my grandma’s house, and that’s when the real hitters come out,” he shared. “You’ve got like 30-year-old men coming out blasting us. I was only like 14, but you had these old guys clapping us with no mercy, killing us, that was a trial time.”
Those backyard games gave Jones early exposure to the sport before he ever joined an organized team.
Organized Football Didn’t Enter the Picture Until High School
Jones didn’t begin playing organized football until he was a sophomore in high school.
His circumstances remained difficult even as his talent became apparent. By his junior year, Jones was living permanently at his grandmother’s three-bedroom house, where as many as 11 people stayed at one time.
There wasn’t a bedroom waiting for the future NFL star. Jones, already developing into one of the country’s top high school football prospects, slept on a small couch in the living room with his feet hanging over the armrest.
His ability eventually took him from Houston High School to Mississippi State and then to the NFL, where Kansas City selected him in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Years later, Jones said the circumstances he grew up in shaped the way he viewed his success.
“If I hadn’t have come from here, I wouldn’t have my attitude,” Jones explained. “If I were given a silver spoon, I’d probably be different. Your background kind of makes who you are. After you see the houses I grew up in, and the hardships I faced, it makes me almost more excited where I am today. It makes me want to give back more.”
Chris Jones Enters 2026 as the Veteran Leading a New-Look Chiefs Defense
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The distance between those childhood backyard games and Jones’ current position in Kansas City is especially apparent entering the 2026 season.
Now 32, Jones is preparing for his 11th NFL season. ESPN described him as the Chiefs’ best defender and longest-tenured defensive player as Kansas City surrounds him with a younger group that includes first-round defensive tackle Peter Woods and second-round defensive end R Mason Thomas.
Jones joked about how long he’s been around when discussing his younger teammates.
“That’s a nice way to say you’re old,” Jones joked. “I’ve been in the league going on 11 years, so, I mean, if they paid attention to the Chiefs any bit, then they’ve probably seen me on the field.”
The veteran is now helping teach younger players the techniques that helped him become one of the NFL’s premier defensive linemen. ESPN reported that Jones spent time after a fully padded practice working one-on-one with Woods on pass-rush moves and footwork.
Jones also enters the season looking for more from himself after leading Kansas City with seven sacks in 2025.
“This year, I plan to start high — and go higher,” Jones said.
Jones and the Chiefs take on the Indianapolis Colts in week 2 at Arrowhead Stadium.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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