[3] Born in Oakland, California, Jones-Drew was raised in Antioch and graduated from De La Salle High School in Concord.

[4] De La Salle owns the longest winning streak in high school football history at 151 games.

[7] Drew next scored on a 29-yard reception on fourth down in which he ran a circle route out of the backfield down the left sideline and hauled in an over-the-shoulder touch pass at the goal line from quarterback Matt Gutierrez.

Drew's third touchdown came in the second quarter when he burst through the line, shook off two tacklers, before hitting paydirt 17 yards later.

[8] He is pictured outrunning a slew of defenders on the cover of the book When the Game Stands Tall, which chronicles the De La Salle Spartans' all-time-record 151-game winning streak.

[citation needed] Jones-Drew accepted a football scholarship to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played for the Bruins under head coach Karl Dorrell from 2003 to 2005.

[11][12] Despite being undersized, Jones-Drew led the Bruins in rushing all three years he was on the squad and showed good pass catching ability and big playmaking skills as both a punt and kickoff returner.

In the third quarter, he broke numerous tackles en route to his school-record fifth touchdown, a 37-yard run on the Bruins' first possession of the half.

His total of 322 yards rushing was the 3rd most in the history of the Pac-10 Conference, and his overall performance earned him several National Player of the Week awards.

[16] Jones-Drew gave a sign of things to come when, as a freshman, he rushed for 176 yards on only 18 carries against Arizona State, including an 83-yard scamper down the left sideline to the end zone which put UCLA ahead in the game for good in the third quarter.

Jones-Drew, age 21, was selected in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars, 60th overall, to eventually replace veteran running back Fred Taylor.

[citation needed] He finished tied for second in the balloting for Offensive Rookie of the Year, awarded to quarterback Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans.

[39] Although his role as a running back was diminished during the 2007 postseason, he still managed to impact the game with his capabilities as a receiver and a return man.

He returned a kick-off 96 yards to set up the Jaguars' first score of the night, a Fred Taylor one-yard run.

[42] His first 100-yard rushing game of the season came against the Indianapolis Colts, where the Jaguars won by a score of 23–21 on a last second field goal by kicker Josh Scobee in Week 3.

[64] He became aware of the extent of the injury in training camp, but tried to keep it a secret to prevent opponents from intentionally taking shots at his knee.

[68] Although the Jaguars did not make the playoffs, Jones-Drew drew attention in the postseason with comments he made questioning the severity of an in-game injury to Jay Cutler in the NFC Championship Game.

[80] Jones-Drew was named to the 2012 NFL Pro Bowl as a back-up for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice as a result of his spectacular season.

[83] Jones-Drew began the 2012 season by not attending organized team activities or training camp in hopes of signing a new contract with the Jaguars.

Jones-Drew had two years remaining on a deal he signed in 2009, according to which his average salary was lower than that of fellow running backs Adrian Peterson, Chris Johnson, LeSean McCoy, Arian Foster, Steven Jackson, DeAngelo Williams, and Marshawn Lynch.

[4][92] Jones-Drew's season in Oakland was plagued by futility, as he recorded only 96 yards rushing on 43 attempts (averaging 2.2 yards-per-carry) and zero touchdowns.

[93] His number of carries would be limited due to the solid performances of teammates Darren McFadden and Latavius Murray.

[103] In 2011, Jones-Drew appeared as himself along with fellow NFL players Brent Grimes and Sidney Rice in a Season 3 episode of the FX comedy The League.

[104] In 2013, Jones-Drew joined the list of other tattooed athletes who have appeared in PETA's "Ink Not Mink" ads, posing shirtless in support of their anti-fur campaign.

[106][107] Since 2020, Jones-Drew has been an analyst on Channel 5's Monday Night Football coverage in the UK alongside host Kirsten Watson.

[108] In 2023, Jones-Drew was part of the ITV commentary team on Super Bowl LVII alongside Darren Fletcher and Jack Crawford.

[109] Born to Sidney Gayles and Andrea Drew, Jones-Drew was raised by his maternal grandparents, Maurice and Christina Jones.

At the height of his college career in 2005, his grandfather suffered a heart attack while walking into the Rose Bowl to see Jones-Drew play against Rice University on September 10.

Coach Dorrell broke the news to Drew on the sideline during the game, and he ran to the locker room and left to go to the hospital.

To honor the man who raised him, he had his entire legal surname affixed to his jersey, making him "Maurice Jones-Drew.