SEAFORD, Del. – A boy who was a standout on the football field during his time at Seaford high school, has a goal of giving back to the youth in the community, all while battling Crohn’s disease.
“During those 7 days in the hospital, those 7 days in the hospital I was just fighting for my life,” says Amri Jones, Seaford Alumni ’15.
A Seaford Alumni and football star, Amri Jones was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in September of 2019. He says this disease attacks your intestines and eats at your immune system, and in Amri’s case, puts him in constant pain.
Jones also says, “what happened to me is it snuck up on me, I didn’t know it.”
Amri had to have major surgery and then learn to walk again, and through all that, he still strives to carry out his goals in life. “Just giving back is really on my heart majorly, and I just love the community,” says Jones.
His work in the community involves working at the boys and girls club, collecting toys for children, gathering assistance for a family who just lost their home, and finding a way to get computers for kids to be able to attend virtual classes for school.
“The stuff that Amri is doing in the community is going to have a lasting affect on our community, we need more people like Amri in the community giving back, working with our kids, just leading them in the right direction,” says former Seaford High School football coach, Marc ‘Duke’ Dickerson.
Coach Duke says as a player, Amri left nothing on the field, that’s why he’s sure he’s going to approach his battle with Crohn’s the same way.
“I know Amri is going to fight this disease 100 percent, he’s not going to let it beat him,” says Coach Duke, “Amri will look at situation and say what can I do to make it better, no matter what the situation.”
Amri tells 47 abc he had a dream of making it to the NFL, and although that may never happen, he still wants to be influential in the community.
Jones says, “whole point is to keep on fighting no matter what you’re going through, you could be in school, you could be having a bad day, but anybody could have it worse.”
Amri is hosting a flag football tournament in May of 2021 to raise money for the boys and girls club and the Crohn’s disease foundation. If you would like to participate in the tournament, you can contact Amri Jones at 410-253-5879 for more information.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
