Jaire Alexander and Aaron Jones beamed with pride as they walked across the stage at their college graduations over the weekend.
Green Bay Packers pride.
Alexander, a first-round pick last month, and second-year pro Jones both wore their Packers jerseys under their graduation gowns and proudly showed them -- and their diplomas -- as they walked at their respective schools.
Alexander graduated from the University of Louisville and Jones from UTEP.
CB @JaireAlexander has talent and now has his degree. #L1C4 pic.twitter.com/REOgIBOZ27
— LouisvilleFootball (@UofLFootball) May 12, 2018
No word on whether the two coordinated it or even knew what the other had planned.
Former @utep Miner and star @packers RB @Showtyme_33 about to walk during the morning commencement ceremony. π€πΌπ¨π»βππ©π»βπππ» pic.twitter.com/JrI3hRrCdR
— UTEP (@utep) May 12, 2018
“Jaire graduated in three years,” said Terrell Buckley, Alexander’s former position coach in college. “So you’re getting a kid with all those qualities.”
Said Alexander in an Instagram post: “3 years and done. [It] wasn’t easy but with the right mindset anything is ACHIEVABLE! And special thanks to everyone who’ve helped me ...”
Jones, a fifth-round pick in 2016, said via the El Paso Times that graduating “feels amazing; this is something no one can take from me. I promised my parents after I declared for the draft that I would come back to get my degree. I had to uphold that. ... This is the top right here. I worked four years for this day."
Earlier this month, Packers safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix returned to Alabama to graduate four years after he left for the NFL.