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Ex-Gopher Dominic Jones: 'My name now is Inmate'
KYNDELL HARKNESS, Star Tribune
By ROCHELLE OLSON, Star Tribune
Last update: July 29, 2008

Former University of Minnesota football star Dominic Jones offered some high school football players $100 recently if they could come up with his previous jersey number and his current one.

One raised his hand and said Jones was No. 2 as a Gopher. Correct.

Nobody knew his current number. "Number 00425759. That's my number," Jones said. "My name now is Inmate. It's not Dominic Jones."

In the past year, the 21-year-old Jones has gone from an admired team leader with realistic NFL dreams and a college diploma within reach to a sex offender serving a one-year sentence in the Hennepin County workhouse.

During his first public interview since he was charged last summer, Jones spoke about personal responsibility, college sports and his journey.

"I am not blaming a white man. I am not blaming a prosecutor. I'm not blaming a judge. I'm blaming me. That was hard for me to do at first," he said. "I'm human. I made a mistake."

Ex-Gopher Dominic Jones: 'My name now is Inmate'