BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —
Everyone loves a good underdog story, and Auburn football had one of its own come into the public eye during a rainy A-Day game Saturday, April 8.
After winning Scout Team Player of the Year last season as a first-year walk-on running back, No. 35 Justin “Ajax” Jones took advantage of his 10 carries during the spring game, going for 51 yards and capping it off with Auburn’s only touchdown by a running back on the day. Jones reached the end zone along with the likes of quarterbacks Robby Ashford and Holden Geriner and wide receiver Landen King.
“Honestly, when I scored it’s almost like it didn’t register in my brain then and there,” Jones said. “You see all those guys running it, like Robbie Ashford, Holden Geriner and Jarquez (Hunter), they got these nice little celebrations going. Me, I just scored and I was like, ‘All right, next play.’ I guess it’s just been such a long time since I’ve gotten some type of exposure like that. But it felt great.”
Hearing a crowd cheer as he bulldozed his way across the goal line and embracing his parents after the game is something he hasn’t gotten to experience since his high school days at Bessemer Academy in Bessemer, Alabama. After graduating in 2019, he was recruited to the United States Naval Academy in Maryland, where he played for a year before coming back home to walk on at UAB.
Jones played a season with the Blazers and was nearing the end of his second spring with them when he received a call from his dad that fostered the move to The Plains.
“He was like, ‘Son, I had a dream or something telling me that we need to take you to Auburn up with your brother, and you’re gonna go up there and try out for the team and make it,’” Jones recalled.
Jones wasn’t so sure, but he took a leap of faith.
“I was like, ‘Uh, Dad, that’s a little far-fetched, a little crazy.’ Plus, I had a lot of financial things going on too, and I didn’t know how we were going to handle that,” Jones said. “He looked at me and said, ‘God said that he will fix that.’ So I just put everything in my dad’s hands, and one thing led to another. I made the team, and it was an amazing experience, honestly.”
He described it as amazing, but also scary. Battling feelings of self-doubt and feeling like he wasn’t qualified, he said that he not only made the roster but that he thrived in his scout team role in his sophomore season. He survived the change in coaching staff from having Bryan Harsin leading the way, to his own running backs coach Cadillac Williams, to current head coach Hugh Freeze.
Although he loved the energy and change of pace Williams provided as head coach, Jones said he is appreciative of the way the coaching shuffle played out.
“As a walk-on, [a coaching change] is a scary process because so often, you really don’t know what’s next,” Jones explained. “Like, when a new coach comes in, is he gonna kick all the walk-ons off? Every coach has their own agenda, things that they do, so it was kind of a stressful process, but thankfully Hugh Freeze came in and spared a lot of us, gave us some grace. He allowed us to come in and show him what we had to give, so we appreciated that opportunity. It was a good turnover process.”
Known by his teammates as “Ajax,” Jones is headed into year two as a Tiger not listed on Auburn’s depth chart, but all he has done as an underdog so far is outperform expectations. Whether he reaches the field or not, Jones is already seeing his hard work pay off.
It took some time to see it come to fruition, but as he looks back on his TD run, it’s obvious that his dad’s vision wasn’t so crazy after all.
“[Getting to where I am now took] not giving up,” Jones said. “For someone in my position who didn’t have all the offers from big-time schools and stuff, it can definitely get to you. But as long as you have a support system and believe in your goals and dream, you will get where you need to go.
“Keep God first, that’s how you get to this position. … And I just thank God I was chosen to come here and play.”