The Rise and Fall of Julio Jones

INTRO. Julio Jones was one of the most dominant wide receivers in the NFL for nearly 8 years his rare combination of speed size and athleticism allow him to abuse Defenders on his way to the end zone time and time again a no doubt first ballot Hall of Famer and just like many other greats who came before him when injuries pile up things can quickly change this is the rise and fall of Julio Jones humble HUMBLE BEGINNINGS. beginnings Julio was born on February 8th 1989 in Foley Alabama his mother raised him and his brother alone in a troubled neighborhood he played High School football at Foley High School where his offensive position won't surprise you as he was a wide receiver but on defense he was a edge rusher for the Lions the whole state of Alabama quickly realized his talents as he excelled on both sides of the ball but particularly at wide out he was ranked top three in the 2008 recruiting class with a nearly perfect rating that was almost unheard of at the time so much so that he is still ranked as the 27th alltime recruit by 24/7 Sports which dates back to 2000 and naturally with so much talent he had scholarship offers from all of the top schools in the country Florida Ohio State USC Oklahoma you named the school and I'm sure you had a scholarship offer P car was the head coach at USC at the time and he wanted Julio badly the Trojan coach flew down to Alabama to watch him play but his high school football coach saw Carol arrived and immediately subbed Julio off the field shut down practice and even locked the school his high school coach in the whole city of Foley wanted him to play for Nick Sabin at Alabama and that's exactly what he did committing to the legendary coach shortly after an official visit a star was born in A STAR WAS BORN IN TUSCALOOSA. Tuscaloosa immediately when he stepped foot on campus he was number one on the dep chart and he played like a veteran as a young 18-year-old going on to win the SEC freshman of the Year while playing for the tide leading all receivers with 924 receiving yards and four touchdowns going into the next season everyone in the world knew Julio would be primed for a monster year I mean the writing was on the wall the year prior that he was going to be a star sadly he fell short of that amazing year due to Bama struggles to pass the ball nearly all season when they needed a big play in the clutch they always looked his Direction against both LSU and Auburn he did just that helping lift the tie to their second straight SEC championship appearance they defeated the Urban Meer LED Florida Gators in this game to advance to the BCS National Championship in The Natty the Bama struggles to pass a rose again when they were carried to Victory by a stout defense and Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram to defeat the Texas Longhorns and be Crown national champions following a sophomore slump in 2010 Julio was motivated by his lackluster season the year prior and he took his game to the next level BMA fans were starting to become accustomed to him having big games against Rivals and this this year was no different LSU 10 catches 89 yds and a touchdown Tennessee 12 catches 221 yards Auburn 10 catches 199 yards and a touchdown in big games he always showed up by season's end he set Alabama records with 78 receptions for 1,133 yards and seven touchdowns he decided to forego his senior season and declared for the NFL draft and leaving Alabama second in career receptions receiving yards and fourth and touchdown catches standing at nearly 6'4 and wearing nearly 230 lb Julio possessed a rare combination of elite size strength and speed he was tabbed as a generational Talent who could dominate press coverage make 5050 catches and he wasn't afraid to do the dirty work as he was known as a bully in the Run game due to being a strong blocker and a run heavy Alabama offense in a shocking blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Browns the Atlanta Falcons traded away five pck including two first and backto back years to move up to six overall in the 2011 NFL draft with one player in mind with this pick they selected the wide receiver out of Alabama Julio Jones pairing him with Rody white and a young Matt Ryan the dirtiest bird the season THE DIRTIEST BIRD. prior White had just recorded his fourth straight 1,000 yard season and the Atlanta Falcons believed that paring him with an elite young receiver was their ticket to a promising playoff run and it was a great idea as who IO was excellent in his rookie season although he felt just shy of 1,000 yards of his own Rody White had his fifth straight season of 1,000 yards and the two combined for 16 total touchdowns eight a piece Atlanta made the playoffs finishing the regular season 10- six but ultimately they lost to the New York Giants in a wild card game The Following Season Julio improved after being mentored by Rody white for a full season and fine-tuning his route running ability and still as the number two wide receiver he recorded 1,198 receiving yards and six touchdowns the number one had another great season with, 1300 yards of his own the two have been dominant all year long helping lead the Falcons to the playoffs yet again Julio was selected to his first Pro Bowl in just his second year as a pro even though he still had to share the targets everyone in the world knew that he was on the rise the Falcons had improved their record to 13 and3 and held the number one seed in the NFC in a divisional round he dominated racking up 241 yards and two touchdowns plus an interception on a hail marry attempt from Russell Wilson they Advanced to the NFC championship game where they would sadly fall short to the San Francisco 49ers 2013 started off historic for Julio as he was on Pace to finished the season with over 1,800 yards after the first four weeks of the season but then he fractured his foot in week five and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season the dirty birds without him finish with a losing record and would miss the playoffs for for the first time in three seasons and while his fantastic form in 2013 came to a devastating halt he picked right back up where he left off when he returned in 2014 opening the season with 116 yards against the Rival New Orleans Saints and later that year he went off against the Arizona Cardinals hauling in 10 catches for 189 yards and a touchdown but on Monday Night Football Julio would go insane for 259 yards and a touchdown on 11 catches against the Green Bay Packers he finished the season with 104 receptions clearing 100 for the first time in his career and a new career-high and receiving yards with 1,593 and while the Falcons were yet to ReDiscover their playoff form he had now submitted himself as one of the best receivers if not players in the entire league following the season the Falcons will reward the ascending Talent with a 5-year contract extension prior to the 2015 campaign pinning his name to a $71 million contract that would keep him in at Atlanta until 2020 during the season he made that contract look like a bargain totaling 135 catches smashing his previous career high of 104 and racked up 1,871 receiving yards which not only set a new career high for Julio but led the entire NFL he was now the League's leading receiver for the first time in his career in the Talk of the Town in hotlanta his 135 catches was the third highest total of all time after a few seasons of media ocity the Falcons finally built a roster that following year that would help them back to the playoffs they went 11 and5 and finished as the number two seed in the NFC the wide out added another 1,49 yards and six touchdowns to his career totals the tandem of MVP Matt Ryan and Julio went absolutely nuclear against the Carolina Panthers when they both went on for career highs with 503 passing yards and over 300 receiving yards their dominant 2016 regular season also translated to the playoffs where they led the Atlanta Falcons all the way to the Super Bowl and we all know how that historic Super Bowl 51 turned out but Julio had a pretty good showing and made a couple of remarkable plays late in the game that gave the team some hope he caught four passes for 87 yards in that game that turned out to be heartbreaking for the Falcons 2017 and 2018 were pretty uneventful Seasons from a team standpoint as they were having trouble dealing with their meltdown in the Super Bowl and were starting to regress Julio led the league in receiving yards for a second time in his career and by the end of the 2019 season he had now been expected to easily clear 1,000 yards every year the only exception was in the year that he only played five games and even then he was still on track for 1,800 yards the last six seasons he had eclipsed over, 1300 yards and was selected to the Pro Bowl in every single one and was selected a first team All Pro twice during this time period and it was obvious that he was well on his way to becoming a future Hall of Famer 2020 was the worst year for Atlanta since Julio's arrival and he struggled to stay healthy all season now over 30 years old injuries started to win the battle in his career which was something he hadn't had to deal with since 2013 missing only four games the past six seasons he did however become the Falcons all-time leading receiver surpassing his former teammate Rody white but he would only be featured in nine games and he was never 100% the THE BEGINNING OF THE END. beginning of the end following the 2020 season Shannon sharp made a call to Julio Jones asking him on live TV if he wanted to remain in Atlanta the call created serious controversy as Julio was unaware he was live on the air and had responded by saying he was out of there the media circus followed which led to his eventual trading to the Tennessee Titans who had gone 11 and5 in the season prior and were looking to make a Super Bowl run in Atlanta he was obviously frustrated with the way things were going and despite his best efforts they continually missed the playoffs the Titans on the other hand had been building themselves into a winning organization they had star players like Derrik Henry and AJ Brown and he would serve as a talented veteran option for an offense that was playing at an elite level Tennessee would go 12 and five but largely had to do it without Julio Jones once again a hamstring injury played him all year long after tweaking it in week three but just like for the Falcons he tried his best to play through it but by week8 he didn't look like himself anymore and was forced to watch from the sidelines the Titans would then decide to place him on into reserve and upon his return He re agravated the hamstring once again and while he was cleared to play for the next game in Pittsburgh he had now been fighting with the same hamstring injury for two straight seasons and it wasn't going away he ended the season with 434 passing yards the lowest of his entire career playing in only 10 games exiting early on multiple occasions Tennessee Advanced to the playoffs despite his underwhelming season where Julio would contribute six catches for 62 yards and a divisional playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and following the season Tennessee decided to release him in March of 2022 he was now a free agent for the first time in his career at the age of 33 after a long off season where he tried to rehab his hamstring injury back to full strength he landed with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who were taking their last shot at a Super Bowl title in the Tom Brady ERA with a talented roster of wide receivers Julio had been a mere role player catching just eight passes in four games played and just like previous seasons he was once again missing significant time this time with a knee injury and his career seemed certainly over but on October 17th of 2023 the seven Time pro bowler signed a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles rejoining a receiving Corp that featured AJ Brown he was joining the team to replace quz Watkins who landed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury of his own and to get one last shot at winning a Super Bowl on a star studded roster playing in eight games with the Eagles he had massed 14 receptions for 76 yards and three touchdowns playing less than 20 snaps a game having been one of the most dominant wide receivers in the last 20 years his consistent Elite play showed time and time again doing so with speed and size that very few have ever possessed and sadly as they have done to so many who came before him injuries derailed his career rapidly and since leaving the Falcons he has been reduced to a role player in the Twilight of his career I don't know if this will be the last we see of Julio Jones but if it is he surely on his way to [Music] OUTRO. Canton