Jahmai Jones’ parents are Andre Jones and Michele Jones. His father, Andre, was an NFL linebacker who played on Notre Dame’s 1988 national championship team and suited up for the Detroit Lions in 1992. He died of a brain aneurysm on June 22, 2011, at age 42. Jahmai’s mother, Michele, was born in Seoul, South Korea, and adopted into an American family. She raised six children on her own after Andre’s death, and her Korean heritage is why Jahmai is representing South Korea at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
Who Was Andre Jones, Jahmai’s Father?
- Andre Jones was a linebacker who played under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame, earning a national championship ring with the Fighting Irish in 1988
- After college, he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and later played for the Detroit Lions in 1992 and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League
- He attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland – a program with one of the strongest football traditions in the country
- His Notre Dame teammate and close friend Raghib “Rocket” Ismail became the godfather to the Jones children
Andre was the kind of football father who didn’t push his kids toward the sport so much as surrounded them with it. He took Jahmai to practice. He went to T.J.’s games at Notre Dame. He had friends like Ricky Watters, Jerome Bettis, and Ismail in his orbit – men who stayed close to the family and passed on what they knew about professional sports, long after Andre was gone.
The last time Jahmai saw his father was June 21, 2011. Andre drove him to baseball practice, dropped him off with some words of encouragement, and headed home. He suffered a brain aneurysm the next day. He was 42.
According to Jahmai’s Wikipedia career profile, Andre died in 2011, just before Jahmai’s freshman year of high school, and the same summer his brother T.J. was entering his sophomore season at Notre Dame. The timing was brutal for the whole family.
Who Is Michele Jones, Jahmai’s Mother?
- Michele Jones was born in Seoul, South Korea, and was adopted into an American family alongside her younger brother
- She grew up in the United States and raised six children in Roswell, Georgia – four boys and two girls
- After Andre died in 2011, she raised all six children on her own through their high school years and beyond
- Korean cultural influences, particularly around food, remained a constant in the household – something Jahmai has spoken about consistently in interviews
Michele didn’t get much public attention during the years she quietly held everything together. That changed a little in 2026, when Jahmai decided to represent South Korea at the World Baseball Classic – in large part because of her.
“Being able to go through that and just doing something for my mom, being able to do this and have her and me experience this together, it’s a really cool family moment,” Jahmai told World Baseball Network in Lakeland during spring training. She and two of his sisters traveled to Japan to play pool in Tokyo.
His mother’s story is its own thing. Born in Seoul, adopted, brought to America with her brother, married into an NFL family, lost her husband when the youngest of her six children was 13. She was not someone who talked about any of it publicly. She just raised the kids. Jahmai has said, “To go through it at such a young age, with so many kids and watching her not miss a beat, it really made me understand a lot more about my mom.”
That’s the version he keeps coming back to. Not a tribute. Just a fact he observed. It tells you what she actually did.
What Happened to Andre Jones, and How Did It Shape Jahmai?
- Andre suffered a brain aneurysm on June 22, 2011, the day after driving Jahmai to practice, and died at 42
- Jahmai was 13 at the time and heading into his freshman year of high school – the age when most young athletes start making the choices that define their future
- Since turning professional, Jahmai has done charitable work with the Lisa Foundation, which raises awareness for brain aneurysms – a cause that is personal and specific, not just a name on a sponsor list
- The Jones family’s proximity to Notre Dame legends like Bettis, Watters, and Ismail meant that, even after losing Andre, the children had experienced mentors helping them navigate professional sports
What the timing of Andre’s death did, practically, was remove the football figure from the house right when Jahmai needed to decide whether baseball or football was going to be his path. He was already leaning toward baseball. That year confirmed it.
His brothers, T.J. and Malachi, had both followed their father to football. T.J. was deep into Notre Dame. Malachi would go to Appalachian State. Jahmai chose differently – and has said plainly that part of it was about identity. “I felt like my identity would get lost in the mix, just being compared to my brothers,” he told BaltimoreBaseball.com. That decision, made in the shadow of loss, turned out to be the right one. He was a second-round pick at 17.
He never got to show his father what that decision became. Andre was 42 years old. That’s all the time they had.
How Did the Jones Family Athletic Legacy Shape Jahmai’s Path?
- The Jones family produced multiple professional athletes across two sports – a lineage stretching from Andre’s 1988 Notre Dame title through Jahmai’s 2026 World Baseball Classic appearance
- T.J. Jones played five seasons in the NFL, primarily as a wide receiver with the Detroit Lions and briefly with the New York Giants, following in his father’s footsteps at Notre Dame
- Malachi Jones played college football at Appalachian State and had stints across the NFL, CFL, Arena Football League, and XFL
- The six Jones children each pursued athletics seriously – a household pattern that reflects both Andre’s professional background and Michele’s steady presence through their formative years
The pattern here is not a coincidence. The family trained together, watched professional games together on Thanksgiving at Ford Field, and absorbed the rhythms of high-level sports from the time they were children. Andre coached them. His Notre Dame network mentored them. Michele held the household steady so they could all pursue it.
What the Jones household produced is remarkable when you look at the full picture. Six children, five of whom have competed at a high level in professional or elite amateur athletics. Andre gets some of the credit. So does Michele. Neither of them pushed anyone in a particular direction – they just built a household where competing at the top was normal.
That’s a version of what you see with multi-sport families like the Iveys – where Niele Ivey’s coaching background at Notre Dame directly shaped the career trajectory of Jaden Ivey. A parent’s professional life doesn’t just influence an athlete. Sometimes it writes the blueprint.
Why Did Jahmai Jones Choose to Represent South Korea – and What Does It Mean?
- Jahmai is eligible to represent South Korea at the World Baseball Classic through his mother, Michele, who was born in Seoul and adopted into an American family
- He expressed interest in playing for Korea after his breakout 2025 season with the Detroit Tigers, where he posted a .970 OPS and seven home runs against left-handed pitching
- At the 2026 WBC, held in March at the Tokyo Dome in Pool C, Jahmai hit a solo home run in the eighth inning of South Korea’s 11–4 win over the Czech Republic
- Michele and two of Jahmai’s sisters traveled to Japan to watch him compete – the first time the WBC had brought the family together in that specific way
It was not a technical eligibility exercise. It was personal. He has said playing for a country and having that across his chest is something he has always wanted to do. When Korea chose him, after he expressed interest, he said it “means everything to me.”
Michele’s Korean influence ran through their household in Roswell, Georgia – the food, the culture, the sense of something that came from somewhere specific – never went away, even growing up in suburban Atlanta. It was still there. The WBC was the first time Jahmai had a public way to represent that side of what he is.
The parallels to how Vinnie Pasquantino’s Italian heritage became visible in the 2026 WBC are clear – both players chose to carry a parent’s cultural identity into an international competition, and both had family in the stands when it happened.
Jahmai Jones Career Statistics Snapshot
| Metric | Detail |
| Full name | Jahmai Fitzgerald Jones |
| Date of birth | August 4, 1997 |
| Hometown | Roswell, Georgia |
| Draft | 2nd round (70th overall), 2015 MLB Draft, Los Angeles Angels |
| Signing bonus | $1.1 million |
| MLB debut | August 31, 2020 (Los Angeles Angels) |
| MLB teams | Angels, Orioles, Brewers, Yankees, Detroit Tigers |
| Current team | Detroit Tigers (signed November 2024, minor league deal) |
| 2025 OPS vs. LHP | .970 (7 HR) |
| International | Represents South Korea, 2026 WBC |
| Positions | Outfield, Second Base, Third Base |
Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, MLB.com, verified as of March 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who are Jahmai Jones’ parents?
Jahmai Jones’ parents are Andre Jones and Michele Jones. His father, Andre, was a former NFL linebacker who won a national championship at Notre Dame in 1988 and played for the Detroit Lions in 1992. He died of a brain aneurysm in June 2011 at age 42. His mother, Michele, was born in Seoul, South Korea, and was adopted into an American family. She raised all six Jones children on her own after Andre’s death.
Q: How did Andre Jones die?
Andre Jones suffered a brain aneurysm on June 22, 2011, the day after driving Jahmai to baseball practice. He was 42 years old at the time of his death. Jahmai was 13 and about to begin high school. Since going professional, Jahmai has done charitable work with the Lisa Foundation, which raises awareness for brain aneurysms. He has spoken publicly about the loss, connecting it directly to how he approaches both sports and life.
Q: Why is Jahmai Jones playing for South Korea at the 2026 WBC?
Jahmai is eligible to represent South Korea because his mother, Michele, was born in Seoul and adopted into an American family. He grew up with Korean cultural influences in his Roswell, Georgia, household. After a breakthrough 2025 season with the Detroit Tigers, he expressed interest in playing for Korea and was selected for their roster. He described the opportunity as one of the most important things he has done in baseball, and his mother and two sisters traveled to Japan to watch him compete.
Q: What is Michele Jones doing now?
Michele Jones, Jahmai’s mother, continues to live in the United States and remains a central figure in the Jones family. She raised six children on her own after Andre died in 2011. In March 2026, she traveled to Japan with two of Jahmai’s sisters to watch him compete for South Korea at the World Baseball Classic at the Tokyo Dome. She has kept a low public profile but has been photographed at several of Jahmai’s games over the years.
Q: Did Jahmai Jones play football like his brothers?
Yes, through his sophomore year at Wesleyan School in Norcross, Georgia. He was a standout wide receiver, totaling 1,137 yards, 76 receptions, and 12 touchdowns in his freshman and sophomore seasons combined. He gave up football before his junior year to focus on baseball. He has explained the decision clearly: he loved football but didn’t want to be permanently compared to his brothers, T.J. and Malachi, both of whom played college and professional football. Choosing baseball was about building his own identity.
Q: Who are Jahmai Jones’ siblings?
Jahmai is one of six children. His oldest brother, T.J. Jones, played wide receiver for five seasons in the NFL, primarily with the Detroit Lions, after starring at Notre Dame. Brother Malachi Jones played college football at Appalachian State and competed in the NFL, CFL, Arena Football League, and XFL. Raghib “Rocket” Ismail, the former Notre Dame and NFL wide receiver, serves as the family’s godfather – a role he took on while Andre was still alive and kept after his death.
