On Wednesday, former Packers wide receiver James Jones announced his retirement from the NFL.

Jones, a third-round pick by the Packers in the 2007 NFL Draft and the only wide receiver drafted by general manager Ted Thompson in the third round, played a crucial role in many different Packers offenses during his nine-year career.

After tumultuous early beginnings in which Jones and his mother lived in homeless shelters in California, Jones starred in basketball, track and football at Gunderson High School in San Jose, California. 

San Jose is where he would stay, eventually playing for four years at San Jose State University and helping his draft stock skyrocket after a monster senior season that helped him land with the Packers and the Brett Favre-led offense in Favre's final year in Green Bay.

Jones is one of the few players who could end his career saying he caught passes from both Favre and Aaron Rodgers, two all-time greats. Not just in the Packers' illustrious history, but two quarterbacks that have already gone down as two of the best ever.

During his first seven-year stint with the Packers, Jones and eventual starting receiver Jordy Nelson, drafted in the second round a year after Jones, helped the Packers' offense push their talents to new heights.

The group was loaded with talent between Nelson, Jones, Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and eventually Randall Cobb. All of which provided Rodgers with a lethal passing attack that won him and the Packers' organization a fourth Super Bowl in 2010 and Rodgers an MVP award in 2011.

"His energy, his jokes, laughter," Nelson said after Wednesday's practice when asked what he'll remember the most about Jones' time in Green Bay. "The family man that he is will carry more than anything that he did on the football field and in this locker room. He's a great friend, I still talk to him today."

Nelson said Jones and his wife are visiting Green Bay in "a few weeks" and will likely reconnect with some of his old teammates.

There were times when Jones, considered a veteran by his sixth season, played a large part in Nelson's development as a potent weapon in the Packers' dynamic offense over the years.

"He taught me a lot. He's one of those veterans that were here when I came in and taught me a lot throughout the game. He held himself to a very high standard, he didn't make any excuses. He expected you to make every play and he held you to that game in and game out."

There was another time when Jones was Nelson's temporary replacement.

The Packers chose to let Jones test free agency after the 2013 season, leading to him landing in Oakland. After the signing of Michael Crabtree in free agency and the drafting of Amari Cooper, a two-year run with the Raiders culminated for Jones in 2015. 

Jones was then signed by the New York Giants, however, that trial run lasted a little over a month and he was released on September 5th, well before the regular season even began.

It took no more than a day for the Packers to sign Jones to a one-year deal, almost a day too long.

The Packers were without Nelson, who was lost for the season after tearing his ACL two weeks earlier and Jones was expected to ultimately substitute for Nelson's production.

For the most part, Jones didn't disappoint. He caught six touchdowns through the first six games of the season and led the team in touchdowns (eight) by the end of the year, tied with tight end Richard Rodgers for the team lead. He was just over 100 yards shy of eclipsing 1,000 on the season but still managed to lead the team in yards regardless.

Both Nelson and Cobb spent multiple seasons with Jones as a teammate, whereas Davante Adams only had that lone 2015 season. Even so, that wasn't Adams' first exposure to Jones' genuine personality.

^{Wide receiver James Jones catching a touchdown pass against the Seahawks. (Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports)}

After high school, Adams took a summer class at San Jose State when he ran into Jones working with his former college receivers coach, Keith Williams. 

From one California native to another, Jones helped groom a young Adams before his collegiate career at Fresno State as early as 2011. It would be four years later that the two would link up again in Green Bay and help guide that Packers team to a 10-6 record and a playoff win in Washington.

Jones gave Adams "tricks of the trade early" and helped in providing foresight on what to expect in the league.

"He's a great man and a good friend of mine," Adams said. "He's definitely helped me out along the way."

Adams finished with a career-high in receiving touchdowns (12) a season ago, tying him for second amongst all wide receivers. Not that he would ever take credit for it, but the veteran presence of Jones may have certainly helped mold Adams into a breakout target for the Packers, especially if he can duplicate or exceed his success from 2016.

"It helped out a lot. It's another veteran, it's just like having [Davon] House come back. It was a good piece for him to be there. He brought a lot to that wide receiver room, almost had a 1,000-yard season towards the end of his career. 

"He helped me out a lot, just having that veteran presence in the room does a lot for the young guys."

Jones' career with the Packers saw him play in 120 games, tallying 360 catches from the likes of both Favre and Rodgers. He had 5,195 receiving yards along with 45 touchdowns, which is good for the ninth-most in team history.