Giving Everything: Bobby Jones

He started mixed martial arts once his football career was over and went on to be undefeated for his three-year career. He even qualified for a spot on Spike TV’s reality show, The Ultimate Fighter.

 

Now, he’s competing in CrossFit.

 

“I just try to find the most extreme thing I can do, and try to conquer it,” Jones, 35, said. “That’s why I got into CrossFit.”

 

For the last few years, Jones has undergone three major surgeries and fought to recover.

 

Just months before his final fight in 2009, Jones had spinal fusion and arthroscopic knee surgery, and still went on to win.

 

“Before a fight, you’re on an emotional roller coaster,” he said. “You know you’re about to walk into a venue where this guy is trying to embarrass you and take you out before your friends and family. I used to think, ‘The only way I’m getting out of this cage is if I knock him out.’ There’s no other way. You can’t quit. It’s just a matter of will.” 

 

Not long after his hip surgery last May, he got on an erg at Advanced Performance CrossFit to try the second event of the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games: the half-marathon row. One hour and 23 minutes later, he had finished all 21,098 meters, which would have been good enough for 20th place in the Row 2 Event at the Games.

 

Unlike three-time champion Rich Froning Jr. who has said he’d never row a half-marathon again, Jones apparently liked the pain and strapped himself in for another half-marathon last November. With a time of 1:19, he finished within the same range as second- through fifth-ranked athletes in that event: Neal Maddox, Justin Allen and David Levey. 

 

“After every big surgery, I try to do some type of (athletic) event to get over it,” he explained.

 

He kept his success on the rower in mind when things started to suck on Open Workout 14.3. Doubt crept into his mind when he read the prescription for an ascending ladder of deadlifts—a movement he hadn’t attempted in more than a year. But the doubt was short lived. 

 

“It’s all in your mind,” he said. “I think 90 percent of everything we do is mental. If I can row a half marathon eight weeks after surgery, I can do this workout.” 

 

He also recalled his training from his fighting days.

 

“There was a thing we used to do called ‘Shark Bait,’” he said. “In a five-minute round, they would bring in a fresh (opponent) every minute. You’re exhausted, but they’re going to go at you like it’s the beginning. I tried to carry that over to my workout. If you stop, you lose.” 

 

When he did 14.3, he approached each of the first three sets of deadlifts like a fresh round and knocked them out unbroken. 

 

At 275 lb., the bar got heavy, and he went to singles. 

 

“I was shaking and my legs felt like rubber,” he said. “I was just waiting for something to give out at any minute.” 

 

In the AMRAP’s final minute, he looked up into the eyes of his 8-year-old son clapping on the sidelines. He flashed back to his days in the cage, fighting for his honor as his family looked on. 

 

“I stared at him, thinking, ‘I can’t let him down,’” Jones said. 

 

He fought through, pulled the bar five more times, and finished the workout with 114 reps—just one rep shy of the full round of 25 275-lb. deadlifts.

 

“Considering the fact I haven’t (deadlifted) in a long time, I was OK with it,” he said. 

 

To Jones, life is more about using his gifts than seeking thrills. 

 

“I feel like God has given me a lot of mental and physical abilities, and I don’t want to waste those,” he said. “My motto is, ‘Do everything you possibly can in life,’ so when we look back at the end of our days, we can say we gave everything we had to give.” 

 

He’s not certain where CrossFit competition will lead him, but there’s a good chance it might take him back into the cage.

 

“I kind of want to fight again,” he said. “I want to have that option, and I think CrossFit does a great job preparing you for that.”