Picture moving from a city were it’s always good weather, good food, diverse women and most importantly family. Being around family was my biggest thing.

California is were Jones grew up his whole life. The beautiful sunny weather is what Jamal Jones was used to, and being around family that encouraged him and believed in his athletic ability that he will be able to adapt from anywhere he goes.

In California, it’s more of a diverse state were you would see many different colors of people black, white, Mexicans, latinos and the list goes on. Coming to Iowa was a big change in culture for him because the simple fact that he never been in a state with majority of whites and that was a major change for him but like Jamal says, “He can adapt to anything.”

Jamal knew all his life he had to adapt in life, sports, and environment because he knew you couldn’t get anywhere in life if you didn’t know how to adapt to different culture and environments. Sioux City is in a lot of ways then you can image. The weather, it gets cold here in Iowa Jamal said

Jamal had never been to the midwest, so he had to adapt to the weather here in Iowa where he attends Morningside University to play football for the Mustangs. Jamal said one thing he will never get used to is how cold it gets in Iowa.

Adversity was something that Jamal had been dealing with his whole life, and going from California into Iowa was a big jump into adversity for him.

Jones had never been in Sioux City for a visit or to come out to a football game. However, his first time coming to Iowa was when he was coming to attend school.

The love for the game of football is what made Jones make his decision. Jamal said “Yes, the jump was big. It’s been a lot and making a decision to come to one of the best NAIA schools in the world was a pleasure.”

Morningside doesn’t just have a great football team but also has a great business program which is what Morningside is known for. Jamal Jones is a business owner himself, he has a moving company where he goes around seeing if anyone needs there stuff moved from an old house to a new house.

Jamal also said, “Dealing with the injuries that I had to deal with is another big adversity thing that I had to deal with while being here in Iowa. The 4 out of 5 years I’ve been here he has been dealing with major injuries.”

“The competition that I bring into the game of football is everything I could image,” Jamal said. But none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for his teammates and coaches for bringing him into this family environment and also treating him like family.

Playing at a high level like the Morningside Mustang football team is anything that a player can dream of. Its an all high program with players and coaches, and they just don’t worry about football and how great you are. But building a life without football after college is what makes the coaches and this program s special.