You remember the hit, don’t you? It’s December 2016. The Dallas Cowboys are hosting the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. Andre Roberts, a returner with serious wheels, catches a punt and starts weaving through traffic. He breaks a tackle, finds the sideline, and looks like he’s about to take it to the house. Then, out of nowhere, a skinny guy in a jersey numbered six lowers his shoulder.
Boom.
Roberts didn't just go down; he got annihilated. He hit the turf so hard his teammates probably felt it on the sideline. That guy doing the hitting? It was Chris Jones. The punter. Honestly, it was one of the most "un-punter-like" things I’ve ever seen on a football field. It’s the kind of play that defines why Chris Jones was more than just a guy who kicked the ball away for the Dallas Cowboys for a decade. He was an athlete.
The Chris Jones Dallas Cowboys Era: More Than Just a Leg
When we talk about the great Cowboys of the 2010s, names like Tony Romo, Jason Witten, and Dez Bryant dominate the conversation. We rarely talk about the specialists unless they miss a game-winning kick. But Chris Jones held down that punting job for ten seasons. That’s an eternity in the NFL.
Signing as an undrafted free agent out of Carson-Newman in 2011, Jones didn't exactly have a guaranteed path to stardom. He was a left-footed kicker in a right-footed world. But he was consistent. He played 126 games in a Cowboys uniform. Think about that. Across ten years, he averaged 44.5 yards per punt and pinned 187 balls inside the 20-yard line.
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He was basically the master of the "coffin corner."
But the stats don't tell the whole story. You’ve got to look at the swagger. Most punters are told to stay out of the way. If a returner breaks loose, they're the last line of defense, and usually, that "defense" looks like a mild speed bump. Jones was different. He actually liked the contact. That hit on Andre Roberts wasn't a fluke; it was a statement. He was an "accidental linebacker" trapped in a punter’s body.
That Unscripted Fake Punt in Oakland
If you want to talk about Chris Jones and the Dallas Cowboys, you have to talk about the 2017 game against the Raiders. It’s the third quarter. The Cowboys' offense is playing like they’re stuck in mud. It's fourth-and-short. Jones walks out, takes the snap, and instead of booting it, he just... runs.
He didn't just get the first down. He sprinted 24 yards down the sideline.
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The crazy part? It wasn't even the play call. According to reports later, Jones saw the lane and just took it. He had the green light to go if the look was there, and he had the stones to actually pull the trigger. It sparked a scoring drive and eventually helped the Cowboys win a game they had no business being in. You don't see that from a guy whose primary job is to stand 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Why the Career Ended
Nothing lasts forever, especially in Frisco. By 2019 and 2020, the wear and tear started showing. Jones was dealing with a sports hernia and back issues. His averages dipped. In 2020, he only played eight games before needing core muscle surgery.
The Cowboys are a business. They saw Hunter Niswander come in and average 47.2 yards while Jones was on the shelf. In March 2021, the team made the tough call and released him to save about $2 million in cap space. It was the end of an era.
There's often confusion online because there’s another Chris Jones—the absolute monster of a defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs. People see the name and get mixed up. But for a decade in Dallas, "The Puntisher" (yeah, fans actually called him that) was a cornerstone of the special teams unit.
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What You Should Take Away
Jones was the ultimate "do your job and then some" guy. He wasn't just a kicker; he was a football player.
If you're looking back at his career or wondering why he hasn't been in the league lately, it's pretty simple: he gave ten hard years to one organization, won some games with his legs and his brain, and retired as one of the most reliable specialists in Cowboys history.
Next Steps for Fans:
- Go watch the 2016 hit on Andre Roberts. Seriously, it's on YouTube. It’s better than most highlights from actual safeties.
- If you're looking for his jersey, keep an eye on secondary markets like eBay; punter jerseys are rare, and a "Jones 6" is a deep-cut fan favorite.
- Keep an eye on the Cowboys' Ring of Honor—while specialists rarely make it, Jones' longevity puts him in a very elite tier of Dallas franchise history.