After Hitting Bottom, Jones Breaks Into Clear

MARC JONES' alcohol dependency almost ruined his football career. But after being kicked off two teams, he entered a treatment program and is back on the field.

When he thinks back on his life out of control, the drinking, partying, fighting, hangovers and jail cells, it's hard for Marc Jones to pinpoint when he hit bottom.

It was as though he believed he could go no lower, only to find the next day that his elevator was still heading down.

Kicked off the University of Washington football team in 1990. Kicked off the Western Washington team two years later. In danger of being kicked off the Central Washington team.

Then something clicked and the elevator changed directions.

Now 24 and a successful junior running back for CWU, Jones finally is dealing with his demons. He says he has been clean and sober for nearly a year and recognizes his past suffocating dependence on the bottle.

"I've never been in trouble when I was not drinking," Jones said.

His problem was, for most of his young adult years, it seemed like he never was not drinking.

At one point, two years ago when, after he left the UW and was trying to make himself eligible for WWU's team, he was 35 pounds overweight from nightly binges. His grades were not yet acceptable, nor was his approach.

"I was not taking things seriously. I looked at what it would take to get eligible and thought, `No way.' I kept plugging away, and as soon as I got over one hurdle, there were 20 more ahead of me," Jones said.

It was also then that his mother, Beth Jones, whose heart had been broken by her son's traumatic life, finally gave him the tough-love message that she wasn't going to underwrite him anymore. No more money until he began helping himself. Just to survive, Marc was forced to sell his $175 shoes his mom had bought him.

He spent 1991 on Western's scout team while he worked on his academics. He infrequently attended Alcoholics Anonymous. Just before WWU's 1992 fall drills, he violated an undisclosed team rule and was released from the program.

Jones admits he was "just in total denial.

"I was depressed not going to UW anymore and knew I could not go back to California. It took a while, but I got sick of it. . . . I knew what I wanted to do, but I was not doing it," he said.

It came down to facing up to his drinking problem, which wasn't easy. Even in 1992 after transferring to Central, where he had been given a third chance, he couldn't stop.

"He did party that fall. He went down with the guys to the local tavern. He wanted to be one of the crowd," CWU Coach Jeff Zenisek said. "He disappointed us. He told us one thing, then turned around and did something he wasn't supposed to do."

Midway through the fall quarter offensive coordinator Greg Olson called him into his office and warned him. "I thought, `yeah, yeah sure,' " Jones said. "But it made me think, sitting here in Ellensburg, of all places, about my problems. Two days later, I went back to him and said I needed help."

He dropped out of school and went immediately to a Yakima detox facility. Jones said he is "not perfect by any means" but that he has not had any personal or academic problems since.

He also has found his worth again on the football field. The 6-foot, 200-pound back is the Columbia Football Association's second leading rusher with 703 yards through five games and is averaging 6.0 yards per carry.

He was selected CFA Player of the Week two weeks ago for his effort against Linfield. He had 123 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 42-yard run. His mother, sitting in the stands, cried as he scored.

"I've always loved him, but I did not like the things he did," Beth Jones said. "My heart bleeds for him. Deep down I know he's a caring person."

Beth and her husband Reginald, who moved to Loon Lake near Spokane four years ago from the San Diego area, know better than anyone how far their son has come. The Joneses lived on the edge during Marc's teenage years.

One of the darkest days came during his junior year in high school in Vista, Calif., when he punched a guy at a party, blinding him in one eye. Jones was convicted of criminal assault and given a year's sentence, of which he served eight months. UW recruited him off a San Diego honor farm.

He got so drunk once he wrecked his car and couldn't drive it home. He told his mom he had accidentally hit the curb and lost control, nothing more. He thought she believed him then, but found out, years later, she knew what had really happened.

"I always thought my mom was stupid. It turns out, she knew everything," he said .

Beth Jones said she's not sure how it happened but hopes her son "has been given his life back." She admires how Marc can speak honestly about his past problems.

"I told him, `You have something valuable to talk to young people about,' " she said.

Time will determine if his change if permanent, but the Joneses had an indication this summer when Marc decided not to visit his old buddies in Vista but rather visited his parents at Loon Lake.

Beth has her son back from an abyss so deep only he could find his way on. And he did.

"I'm not a Bible-toting person," Beth added, "but I say a little prayer for him every morning the minute my eyes open, thanking Jesus for helping him through."