From NFL to Hollywood, Thomas Jones Fights for Every Inch

It was a scary moment when former NFL running back Thomas Jones suffered a sudden seizure after having sex with Gabrielle Union.

Or rather, Jones's character—a struggling professional football player named Brandon who is the "cutty buddy" of the title character, played by Union, on BET's hit show Being Mary Jane—suffered the seizure. For Jones, being Mary Jane's friend-with-benefits is the biggest role of his new career as an actor, one with roots in his previous life.

Later in that episode, Mary Jane interrupts a makeout session with Brandon to confront him about "the elephant in the room":

"Yeah, I was kind of hoping we could pretend that didn't happen."
"Seizures are nothing to play with, Brandon."
"Look, they just started two months ago, and I'm trying to make a team."
"OK."
"I have a physical next week, and if they find out, man, damn. All I have is football."
"You can go back to school."
"That's what everybody says that never played pro."
"Oh, please, there are so many things you could do."
"Like what?"

Cutty Buddy aka — #BeingMaryJane (@beingmaryjane)February 19, 2015

If Jones, 37, plays the scene especially well, it's because it isn't quite the first time he's gone through this. The seizures aren't a problem, happily, but when Jones retired following the 2011 season, after playing in the NFL for 12 years (and 10,591 rushing yards) and five different franchises, he found himself at a loss as to what to do without football. He was suffering physically and emotionally, and wondering what was next.

"I found myself drinking at 8 AM, 9 AM, drinking Coronas," Jones said. "And I'm not even a drinker. I just had all this free time and all this free mental space. It was a very tough transition. Luckily, I was able to find acting and be intrigued by the challenge of it. I've always done things that are challenging and that people don't expect me to do."

During his football career, Jones was known as a serious, introspective clubhouse presence, a workhorse back who studied film constantly and kept in great shape. Now those same traits are helping him in another cutthroat industry.

Jones is only getting started as an actor—his role in Being Mary Jane is the biggest he's had in his very brief time in Hollywood, although he did play Suge Knight's menacing bodyguard in the summer hit Straight Outta Compton. IMDB credits his character as "Large Man."

Shortly after retiring from the NFL, Jones expanded his company representing music artists and launched a film division. While producing an independent drama series called The Lick, Jones met the veteran actor Clifton Powell, who encouraged him and praised his acting skills. He took it to heart and moved to Hollywood last June; he has devoted himself to acting ever since. Although he still owns a large home in Miami and says he has plenty of money saved, Jones decided to adopt a simple lifestyle. He lives in a studio apartment and doesn't have a car. He walks to the gym every day and takes Ubers to his acting classes and auditions.

"I want to work for it," Jones said. "I didn't want to come out here and just move to Beverly Hills and get a condo or rent a house. I want to make sure that if I'm standing next to an actor that's struggling that we have the same story. When I'm in my acting classes, I want to sit next to those students and I want to feel what they feel. Because it matters. It makes you appreciate every job you book, every audition you get."

Since retiring, Jones hasn't attended an NFL game; he doesn't watch many on television, either. He has become concerned about the long-term safety of football players and the effects the sport can have on the body and mind. He plans on donating his brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by the former Harvard football player and WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski and neurologist Robert Cantu. Jones said that, if he ever has a son, he's not sure he would allow him to play football.

For most of his career, Jones didn't know much about concussions. When players suffered big hits to their heads, they said they got "dinged" or had their "bell rung." They didn't realize the lasting harm.

"The damage you've done to your brain doesn't go away," Jones said. "It's there permanently. You have to be able to find a way to deal with it in some capacity. That's what I'm doing. I had a lot of concussions in my career. I see a lot of little things happening that never happened before. I forget a little bit more than I used to. I'm stuttering a little bit more. When I get a [television or movie] script, I really dive into it because it helps me memorize my lines, which keeps my brain alive and keeps me active. It's a pretty serious issue."

In partnership with Solaris Entertainment (which produced an ESPN 30 for 30 on Michigan's "Fab 5"), Jones's company is currently working on a documentary called The NFL: The Gift or The Curse? It focuses on off-field issues players have faced such as domestic violence, concussions, suicides, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and financial problems. The project is close to Jones's heart, and not just because he is one of its protagonists.

"We have some really bad reputations in a lot of areas," Jones said. "A lot of people don't understand who we really are as people. I'm just trying to shed light on who we really are as people."

Acting and producing have given Jones a new outlet for his considerable competitive drive, and a crash course in how business gets done in another not especially labor-friendly industry. He's been rejected from countless auditions for being too short, for looking too much like the lead actor, for not developing a bond with the casting director, and for numerous other reasons. He considers Being Mary Jane the highlight of his short career—as well he might, given that the show is hugely popular—but he's not yet satisfied.

And so he does what he always does, which is the only thing anyone in his business can do: he's staying on his grind. Jones recently spent a month and a half on the East Coast working on a project; he wouldn't provide any details other than that it's expected to come out next summer, although his IMDB page has some hints. Jones attends acting classes taught by famous coaches Ivana Chubbuck and Scott Sedita, and receives advice from Reena Patton, his manager. He's in it for the long haul, and believes he has something to prove.

"When you come from the sports world, people think you're trying to act and they don't really take you seriously," Jones said. "They try to compartmentalize you and put you in a box. But I've never put myself in a box. I'm not trying to act. I'm an actor."