Baltimore Ravens dedicating this season to the late Jacoby Jones, Joe D'Alessandris
BALTIMORE - The Baltimore Ravens will be playing this season for former wide receiver Jacoby Jones and offensive line coach Joe D'Alessandris, head coach John Harbaugh said on Monday. The two men died this summer, within six weeks of each other.
Jones died at his home in New Orleans in July and D'Alessandris died on Sunday after a battle with an acute illness.
"We want to honor (D'Alessandris), for sure, with this season and we want to honor Jacoby Jones with this season," Harbaugh said. "Those are two people that we are going to dedicate this season to and do everything we can to make them proud of us. We appreciate those two great men."
Jones, a Super Bowl champion with the Ravens, was 40 years old when he died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
He played with the Baltimore Ravens for three seasons, from 2012 to 2014, but his first season in Baltimore was one to remember. Jones was named a Pro Bowl and All-Pro returner in 2012.
In the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs against the Denver Broncos, Jones caught a 70-yard touchdown pass with 31 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 35-35, and the Ravens won in double overtime.
Against the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, Jones was the first player in Super Bowl History to score a receiving touchdown and a return touchdown in the same game, helping the Ravens win 34-31.
He returned a kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown and caught a 56-yard touchdown pass.
D'Alessandris, who has served as the team's offensive line coach since 2017, took a leave of absence earlier this month for treatment of an undisclosed illness. The Ravens announced his death less than two weeks later.
Born April 29, 1954, in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, D'Alessandris coached in the CFL and the World League — as well as at several colleges — before reaching the NFL ranks. He was an assistant with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers before settling in with the Ravens under Harbaugh.
On Monday, the Ravens held their first practice since D'Alessandris's death as they prepare for the September 5 season opener in Kansas City.
"This was a good man, a good coach, just a great person and a great man of faith," Harbaugh said. "He was kind of an inspiration for all of us."
