Add Texas A&M Former Student to the List
May 07, 2020 | Football
Ricky Seals-Jones left for the NFL a semester short of graduating. He promised his mother he one day would finish his degree.
Buffy Seals-Jones has her most prized possession hanging on the wall beside the armoire at the family home in Sealy, Texas. It's the degree her oldest son, Jamal Jones, received from the University of Houston in 2013.
But Buffy Seals-Jones always felt something was missing.
Her youngest son, Ricky Seals-Jones, left Texas A&M for the NFL after the 2016 season. He left a semester short of graduating, promising his mother he one day would finish his degree.
But 2017 turned to 2018 turned to 2019.
"I kept asking him about it, and he kept telling me, 'They want me to come on campus, and I can't do it on campus, because I'm in football. When I get out of football in January, school's already started,'" Buffy Seals-Jones said. "He just kept giving me that, and I said, 'OK, well, maybe one day.' I just kind of gave up on it."
Ricky Seals-Jones had promised his mother and himself he would get his degree one day. One day comes Friday when Seals-Jones receives his bachelor's degree in university studies.
"It was very difficult," said Ricky Seals-Jones, who recently signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. "We obviously start our offseason training in the spring a little bit earlier than classes are done, so I'd come home after working out and take three hours to knock out this class or do an assignment. You've just got to put your mind to it, bear down and get it done.
"I really just wanted to graduate to show guys who do leave early, it's not the end of the world. You can still play NFL ball and go back to school and finish it. There is a little bit more on your plate, but I did it. I got it done."
Seals-Jones was a four-star recruit out of Sealy High School, giving him his choice of where he wanted to continue his football career. During the family's first meeting with then-coach Kevin Sumlin, though, Buffy Seals-Jones had only one question: What was A&M going to do to help her son get his degree?
Seals-Jones chose A&M, and 6 ½ years after arriving, he has his degree. He is one of 13 current and former football players graduating this semester.
"I always promised my parents that whether I stayed a full term at A&M or got a chance to leave early to go play ball at the next level, I was going to finish," Seals-Jones said. "There was no doubt in my mind I was going to finish, it was just how long it was going to take.
"It was only four years, so it's good to finally be able to say I'm an Aggie alum."
CHANGING POSITONS, CHANGING MAJORS
Seals-Jones, 25, arrived in College Station the spring of 2013 as a sports management major. He redshirted as a true freshman and played three seasons at receiver, catching 123 passes for 1,442 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Seals-Jones went undrafted in 2017, signing with the Arizona Cardinals as a college free agent and converted to tight end. He played two seasons in Arizona and last season with the Cleveland Browns.
While he was catching 60 passes for 773 yards and eight touchdowns in the NFL, Seals-Jones was chipping away at his degree by taking an online class here or there.
During the 2019 season, Seals-Jones made the decision to finish. He called Dan Childs, the assistant athletics director for academic services at A&M, to figure out how to get it done.
"It was not an easy task," Childs said, "because we had to get back into school first. That was always a bit of a challenge. But it was, 'Let's see what we can do.' Through a few emails and a few phone calls and talking to a few departments on campus, we were fortunate to be able to make it happen. But he's done the work this semester. That's to his credit."
Seals-Jones changed his major to university studies with a concentration area of race, gender and ethnicity, minoring in sports management and tourism management. That was the only way he could finish his 12 hours online instead of on campus.
Seals-Jones took all 12 hours this spring.
"I knew he would do the work, because he was so motivated," Childs said. "He kept hitting me up, 'Can you find a way to get me back in?' We were able to find the right path for him, and he made it happen."
Seals-Jones tried to keep it a secret from his parents, Chester and Buffy Seals-Jones. His brother, though, couldn't keep quiet.
"One day, Jamal said, 'You know Ricky's going to graduate?'" Buffy Seals-Jones said. "I was like, 'No. Graduate from what?' He said, 'Oh, I don't know mamma.' I was like, 'What are you talking about?' He wouldn't tell me anything else, so I kind of like dismissed it."
When Buffy Seals-Jones went to visit Ricky in Cleveland for Christmas, he surprised her with the news.
"He said, 'I'm going to graduate,'" Buffy Seals-Jones said. "That word came up again. 'Graduate.' I'm like, 'Graduate from what?' He said, 'From A&M.' I was like, 'WHAT?!' I just started bawling. There wasn't anything left to say. It was hugging and crying."
Ricky Seals-Jones plans on several more seasons in the NFL, but he already has thought of a second career in real estate. Or maybe as a sports agent.
For now, Seals-Jones calls himself NFL player, Kansas City Chief, tight end. He can add Texas A&M former student to the list, too.
He plans to frame the diploma and present it to his parents.
"I'll put it above Jamal's on the wall, and it'll be complete," Buffy Seals-Jones said. "Both of my guys got their degrees, so I am ecstatic.
"I don't know, though, Jamal might come in and put his on top of Ricky's. They won't fit side by side. Maybe we'll have to put one on each end of the armoire. It'll happen some way. Just as long as we get it."
