Chad Jones, a safety the Giants this past April selected in the third round of the NFL Draft, was involved in a serious car crash in New Orleans early this morning. He suffered injuries that cast his football career in doubt.
Jones, 21, suffered multiple fractures to his left leg, shattering his tibia and fibula and also had arteries and nerves exposed, according to various reports. He was transported to the LSU Trauma Center in guarded condition. Doctors attempted to get blood flowing back into Jones’ left foot as he underwent several hours of surgery. He lost a great deal of blood but the main artery in his left leg was not severed.
At 5:15 p.m. local time, Jones was out of surgery.
“If it turns out where I think my son can talk, walk and breathe, then he’s going to be just fine,” Al Jones, Chad’s father, told The Post outside the hospital. “And anything after that we’ll have to deal with one day at a time.”
Jones’ SUV slammed into a streetcar pole; it was not immediately clear what caused Jones to lose control of his Range Rover in the one-car accident. The accident took place around 6:15 Friday morning on Carrollton Avenue, near Toulouse Street. Jones is a native of New Orleans who moved to Baton Rouge following Hurricane Katrina.
It took 20 minutes to extract Jones from the vehicle. Two men riding in the SUV with him were treated for minor injuries and not hospitalized. Police planned to run toxicology reports to see if alcohol was a factor in the crash.
According to Shereese Harper, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department, Jones will be charged with “careless operation of a vehicle.”
According to Jones’ agent, Rocky Arceneaux, Jones was alert when taken to the hospital.
The Giants were alerted soon after the wreck.
“We continue to gather information on Chad’s condition, and obviously our primary concern is for his health and well being,” the team said in a statement. [General manager] Jerry Reese and his staff have maintained contact with Chad’s family throughout the day.”
Football was not on the mind of those deeply concerned for Jones’ health.
“They just said the surgery was successful,” said Al Jones, who drove nine hours with his wife from Fort Worth, Texas, to New Orleans after hearing the news of the accident. “We just want to thank everybody for their thoughts and prayers. He’s a tough guy, so you know it’s just one day at a time.”
An NFL doctor told The Post the next 24-to-36 hours will determine the extent of the trauma to Chad Jones’ left foot. If he sustained extensive soft tissue damage his blood flow could be compromised.
“They had a lot of muscle and tissue and bone that they had to move,” Al Jones said. “I can’t get into the medical stuff, but they said the surgery was successful. The doctors were happy with what they went in and did. Surgery is always one way or the other, but we believe Chad is going to be just fine.”
Jones, a football and baseball star at LSU, recently signed a four-year, $2.6 million contract with the Giants that includes a signing bonus of $825,965. The 6-foot-2, 221-pound Jones came up with a rare achievement while in college, as he won national titles in football (2007) and baseball (2009). He was a pitcher and outfielder for LSU and was twice drafted by the Houston Astros.
“When I heard the news, I was absolutely heartbroken,” LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I have this vision of Chad Jones, superman, super-athlete. To visualize him laying in a hospital bed or surgery or something like that is just hard for me to imagine because he’s just so full of life and energy and athleticism. Right now, all we can do is pray and hope for the best.”
Jones decided to go with football and the Giants when they drafted him believed once he trained for football on a full-time basis he could eventually work his way into a starting role as a free safety. He was likely to spend his rookie year watching and learning and playing on special teams, before this accident cast so much doubt on his future.
LSU coach Les Miles, after hearing of the accident, tweeted, “Just got news about Chad Jones’ car accident. We are praying for Chad and his family. Keep him in your prayers.”