Philadelphia Eagles react to Donnie Jones’ retirement

Donnie Jones officially called it a career on Tuesday, August 27th, and his Philadelphia Eagles teammates flooded.

Just in case you’ve been under a rock for the last 24 hours, we should probably get you caught up. The Philadelphia Eagles officially are home to some of the most beloved special teams players in NFL history. We already knew about the love this team and this team’s fans had for guys like long-snapper Jon Dorenbos and rookie kicker Jake Elliott, but when punter Donnie Jones decided to call it a career, it quickly became apparent ‘Donnie Long-Ball’ was more than just a punter.

Looking back, he was also probably more than just a guy who, honestly, probably had one too many nicknames. Donnie ‘Bag of Bones’ Jones or ‘Donnie du rag’ (or whatever you want to call him) meant a ton to his teammates. We often joke that kickers and punters are barely on the team, but if they aren’t doing their job, they could get talked about all week. We didn’t talk about Jones in the negative sense.

Well, we did have a little fun at his expense that one time he ran out onto the field and didn’t take his jogging pants off. Remember that one?

If not, take a look.

For 14 years (the final four were spent in Philly), Jones racked up 50,500 yards on 1,110 punts. That’s a 45.5 yard average (he even booted one 80 yards once). He even set the franchise record in Philadelphia for net punting average with 40.4 yards in 2013. Shortly after his announcement, several of his Eagles teammates showed love on social media.

Related Story: Donnie Jones announces his retirement

Here are a few of the highlights:

Happy trails…

Fortunately, we didn’t see a ton of Jones on Super Bowl Sunday. In a game that featured 1,151 yards of total offense by both teams, he only took the field once en route to a 41-33 Eagles victory. Again ‘Bag of Bones’ did his job with the game’s only punt, one that traveled 41 yards and flipped field position.

We at ‘ITI’ wish him the best.