Who is Julius Jones? NFL fans confuse convicted Oklahoma native with former Cowboys RB
What's in a name, you ask? Well, you might want to pose that question to Julius Jones, the former Cowboys running back, who has been confused with another person of the same name.
NFL fans confused an Oklahoma convict whose death penalty was commuted with the former NFL player. So that there is no further confusion, we take it upon ourselves to clear the air.
Julius Jones (the convict) murder case
NFL players such as Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott have been vocal about commuting the death penalty for Julius Jones, a convicted native of Oklahoma. He was convicted of murdering a businessman by the name of Paul Howell.
Paul Howell's family remain convinced of his guilt.
Despite his conviction, Jones and his family have maintained his innocence and said that the co-defendant who testified against him was the real criminal. Yesterday, the governor of Oklahoma commuted his death penalty to a life sentence without the possibility of parole, as the NFL players were advocating for.
Julius Jones' (the player) NFL career
Julius Jones also happens to be the name of a former NFL running back who played in the league from 2004-2010. He played his first three years with the Dallas Cowboys.
He spent the last couple of years with the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints. He rushed for more than 5,000 yards in his career and had 150 receptions.
Considering that NFL players were actively involved in seeking leniency for the convict Julius Jones, it was not a surprise for NFL fans to think that they were vouching for their former colleague. Here are some of the reactions that went down.
NFL fans confused by Julius Jones' real identity
Some fans really thought it was former running back Julius Jones who was being executed.
Julius Jones a former NFL player being put to execution is crazy. Meanwhile George Floyd's killer and Ahmaud Aubrey Killer are alive and well. Smh. #BlackLivesMatter
Others, meanwhile, decided to reserve special vitriol for those who were advocating for lessening the sentence. In the process, they accused people of safeguarding Julius Jones because he is a former player, which as we have mentioned, is remotely not true.
At this point, we must also condemn the additional reference to skin color as the reason to "get away with murder" in the tweet below and looping the Zac Stacy case in with the tweet as well.
@Browns @realgrantdelpit So, a number of NFL players are happy that Julius Jones, a former player who murdered someone, didn't get the death penalty? Is this what the league, and our country has come to, that we allow someone to get away with murder if they're Black? Will you make excuses for Zac Stacy?
Others wove a complete narrative out of the story, complete with a picture of the former NFL player.
Julius Jones was a 19-year-old student at the University of Oklahoma – on the verge of gaining a scholarship – when he was charged with murder and sentenced to death in 2002
1. Lack of evidence
2. Racist jury
3. Civil rights violations
He is scheduled to be executed on 11/18! https://t.co/u63hkMqhyE
All in all, all the above reactions point to a worrying sign of forming a pre-conceived notion and running with it. To reiterate, the convicted murderer who had his sentence commuted was not a former NFL player and was not the reason certain NFL players took a stand asking for leniency in his case.
We hope this explanation draws a line under the confusion.