Former University of Georgia Football Player, 21, Dies Following Car Crash: He 'Lived Life to the Fullest'

Mar. 15, 2025

Georgia Bulldogs helmet sits in the bench area during an October 2024 game in Athens, Georgia.Photo:Todd Kirkland/Getty

Todd Kirkland/Getty

Gleaton Jones, a former walk-on running back for the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team, has died at 21 following a car crash this week.

His death comes three days after a Tuesday, Dec. 10 car crash left him hospitalized with a brain injury, according to UGA’s independent student newspaperThe Red & Black.

According to his obituary, Jones was a walk-on running back for the Bulldogs in 2021 after a high school career at Deerfield-Windsor School.

The Georgia Bulldogs logo appears on the field at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Dec. 2, 2023.Alika Jenner/Getty

Alika Jenner/Getty

In high school, Jones was a “celebrated athlete” who was an “All-Region football player, selected to the GISA All-Star team, team captain, and a member of the 2019 State Champion track team,” per his obituary. As a member of the Bulldogs, he became part of the school’s 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship team,The Red & Blackreported.

Jones was also part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and was set to graduate with a marketing degree from the University of Georgia Terry School of Business next spring, before returning to Albany to help his father in running their family farm, according to the obituary.

Tributes for Jones have continued to pour in from UGA community members, including via theUGA BarstoolInstagram andX (formerly Twitter)pages, after his death.

One student remembered the athlete as “the funniest person who had the ability to make any situation a good one.”

A celebration of life for Jones will be held at the Wynfield Plantation on Monday, Dec. 16.

source: people.com