Gleaton Jones, a former walk-on running back for the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team, has died at 21 following a car crash this week.
Jones died on Friday, Dec. 13, according to an obituary shared by Matthews Funeral Home.
His death comes three days after a Tuesday, Dec. 10 car crash left him hospitalized with a brain injury, according to UGA’s independent student newspaper The Red & Black.
Local outlet WSB-TV also reported that Jones died following a serious car wreck, while the Porterfield Methodist Church in Jones’ hometown of Albany, Georgia, said he “suffered a brain injury from an accident.”
According to his obituary, Jones was a walk-on running back for the Bulldogs in 2021 after a high school career at Deerfield-Windsor School.
Gleaton lived life to the fullest and emoted joy and enthusiasm in every endeavor,” the obituary reads. “For such a tender age, he created a full life for himself, and for others, by investing deeply in his family, friends, fraternity, and service to others through his growing faith.”
“Known by his closest friends as ‘Gleat,’ he was described as simply joyful and magnetic. There was no room big enough that his bright light was unable to fill,” the obituary continues. “His light-heartedness and joyful disposition could lift others to happiness, and his listening skills often gave peace of mind and encouragement.”
In high school, Jones was a “celebrated athlete” who was an “All-Region football player, selected to the GISA All-Star team, team captain, and a member of the 2019 State Champion track team,” per his obituary. As a member of the Bulldogs, he became part of the school’s 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship team, The Red & Blackreported.
Jones was also part of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and was set to graduate with a marketing degree from the University of Georgia Terry School of Business next spring, before returning to Albany to help his father in running their family farm, according to the obituary.
The student-athlete is survived by his parents, Marlin and Kirk Jones; his brother, Cole; his grandparents, Linda Fain, Earle Spurlock and Mary Jones; plus aunts, uncles and cousins.
Tributes for Jones have continued to pour in from UGA community members, including via the UGA Barstool Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) pages, after his death.
One student remembered the athlete as “the funniest person who had the ability to make any situation a good one.”
Another said, “I didn’t know Gleaton super well but I was walking back to my [buddy’s] house after the UMass game when I walked by Gleaton’s house, which is right by my friend’s. Gleaton saw me from inside the house and rushed outside to greet me and hugged me and was genuinely happy to see me. That was the kind of person he was. Praying for all of Gleaton’s Family and Friends. Hug your friends today.”
A celebration of life for Jones will be held at the Wynfield Plantation on Monday, Dec. 16.
