Gordon Portell

Johnnie Jones is 18 years old. Everybody calls him DJ. He is a freshman offensive lineman at Missouri, out of Venice, Florida. He was the highest rated recruit in the Tigers' 2026 signing class, number 108 in the country. He has not played a snap this season, and today his coach explained why. During routine freshman medical intake over the summer, doctors found something wrong with his heart. Two weeks went by with no improvement. He was sent to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for a second opinion, and there doctors found what Missouri described as a much more significant issue. DJ Jones has been placed on the heart transplant list. He is still in the hospital. Here is what Eli Drinkwitz said today. "It's tough right now. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family as they go through this. It's just hard, an 18 year old with everything in front of him, and you're just never prepared for that kind of news." "Our team was not prepared for that news. We're praying for him, and we hope that Mizzou fans are joining in with us because he needs help in a hurry." Missouri is ranked 14th in the country. On Saturday they beat an undefeated Florida team 45 to 17. Drinkwitz said DJ was watching that game. So this is not a football post. We thought about whether to run this at all. Not every story we come across is a feel good one, and this one is not a feel good one yet. We are running it because DJ Jones is 18 years old and he needs help in a hurry, and because we are praying for him and his family right along with everybody else. If you pray, he could use it. His family could use it too. And we hope that the next thing we ever write about this kid is nothing but a happy ending. And if you have ever thought about registering as an organ donor and never got around to doing it, this would be a good week.