It is 5:30am on a subzero winter morning and the bellows of 'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY??!!' flood out of Lantz Fieldhouse. Freshman walk-on linebacker Brian Jones relentlessly runs sprints back and forth, back and forth, doing his best to turn the verbal onslaught from EIU Coach Wilkerson into a motivator.
Jones joined the Panthers after his high school senior football season ended with a 1-8 record and, largely due to the efforts of then- football coach John Smith, was given a chance to wear the EIU blue and grey. Jones also competed as a 189-pound high school wrestler and remembers the eye-opening experience of watching EIU "spring ball" and thinking: 'I may not even play here... These guys are giants!'
After the shock of the talent and competitiveness within his new teammates waned, Jones came to experience a sense of camaraderie that led him to develop the belief that with hard work, he could push past most obstacles.
“The first time I pulled on that Panther jersey, I felt a deep sense of personal responsibility - both to my teammates and to myself - to handle my assignments (as a linebacker) with pride. It didn't matter that I was an undersized and unrecruited walk-on. I was now part of a group of men who believed in each other and were focused on a common goal.”
It is 3:30pm on a 100 degree day and upperclassman Brian Jones stands midfield at O'Brien Stadium, donning full pads with the screams of 'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY??!!' filling his ears.
At this point, Jones had proven himself to his coaches, teammates, and Panther fans and earned a coveted spot on the starting lineup. He led his team in tackles and had come a long way from the wide-eyed freshman walk-on. Coach Wilkerson's message, though, still motivated him: 'What HAD I done for my team lately?'
Jones used that mantra to constantly keep him attuned to the point of being an EIU football player: it didn't matter what his tackles were last season, it didn't even matter what they were at the last game. What mattered was what he was doing today.
It is 2:00pm on a sunny, 80 degree day on Chicago's Magnificent Mile and attorney Brian Jones sits across from his client and notices the gentle question of 'What have you done for me lately?' in her eyes.
Several years have passed since his EIU Football days; Jones earned a law degree from John Marshall Law School following his commencement from EIU. At John Marshall he found himself, like that morning of off-season training in Lantz Fieldhouse, surrounded by those who had more experience and, at first glance, more talent than he did.
By channeling the lessons he learned with his EIU football teammates, he pushed through. “I felt (when I started law school), that, again, I was a step behind. But, I worked a little harder, a little smarter, and did all I could to make up for it.”
Now, Jones practices alongside his father and mentor, Jerry, as an attorney with Jones & Quinlisk, LLC. Jerry and Jones's mother, Karla, provided him with "unparalleled moral support” through his time as a walk-on until he walked the stage at graduation, missing only one game his entire collegiate career. While Jones's focus is no longer on tackling - he finds himself reading more documents than defenses - the question remains the same: "What have you done for (your clients) lately?"
“Our firm focuses on advising families - and oftentimes multiple generations of those families. We serve as the 'family advisors' to our clients by counseling on estate planning matters, tax issues, trust administration, the family business, and contract agreements - a broad spectrum of legal matters. If their needs are not in our area of expertise, our network of attorneys is broad enough that we can steer them in the right direction.
“I'm proud to be involved in a practice that, in many ways, allows me to channel what I learned as a collegiate athlete. At every opportunity I have, I want to prove and reprove myself so that my clients and colleagues see what I'm doing for them today. A coach once told me - and I firmly believe that - 'You either get better today or you get worse. No one stays the same.' Each day I strive to be certain I've chosen the prior option."
Panther Legend Side note: We would like to wish Brian and his wife, Nicole (c/o '01) (pictured above), all the best on the upcoming birth of their son, no doubt a Panther-to-be!
