Bert Jones
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Bertram Hays Jones (born September 7, 1951) is an American former professional
At Ruston High School in Ruston, Louisiana, he was given the nickname "the Ruston Rifle". Jones played college football for the LSU Tigers, earning consensus All-American honors in 1972. He was selected by the Colts in the first round of the 1973 NFL draft with the second overall pick. He is the son of former NFL running back Dub Jones of the Cleveland Browns. In 2016, Jones was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
College
Jones attended Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he played for the Tigers. While at LSU, Jones only started two games prior to the end of his junior year, but he started every game thereafter, leading LSU to a 12–2–1 record.
In 1971, Jones threw for 945 yards with nine
In 1972 after taking over at quarterback, Jones threw for 1,446 yards with 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions on 199 pass attempts. Except for one week, LSU spent the entire season ranked in the AP Top 10. One of Jones's most famous moments came in the 1972 LSU vs. Ole Miss game, when he led LSU to a 17–16 last-second victory by hitting running back Brad Davis in the end zone for a touchdown as time expired. After the season, Jones became the first quarterback in LSU history to be awarded consensus All-America honors.[2] Jones also finished fourth in the vote for the Heisman Trophy and was named the national collegiate Player of the Year by The Sporting News.[3][4]
During his 17 games at LSU, Jones completed 52.6 percent of his passes for 3,225 yards and 28 touchdowns, which at the time was the most career passing yards and touchdowns of any quarterback in school history.[2]
In 2016, Jones was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[5]
Professional career
Jones was projected by NFL scouts to be the first quarterback drafted in
The 1976 regular season was Jones's finest as a professional; he threw for 3,104 yards and a career-high 24
The remainder of Jones's playing career beyond 1977 was curtailed by several injuries, the first of which was a separated shoulder after a hit from Al Baker in a Colts' 13–7 win over the Detroit Lions at the Pontiac Silverdome on August 26, 1978, in the final preseason contest for both teams.[10]
During an October 26, 1980, game against the
In 1982, his final season, Jones played in four games for the Los Angeles Rams before a neck injury forced him to retire.[12]
In 1990, Jones participated in the first NFL Quarterback Challenge. He finished first in the retiree category and third in the regular competition (The regular competition taking the top three finishers from the alumni competition and adding them to the regular field of current quarterbacks). Given his strong performance, Bobby Beathard, then the general manager of the Chargers, wanted Jones to come out of retirement,[13] but Jones was 38 at the time and chose not to try a comeback.
Longtime scout Ernie Accorsi is quoted as saying that if Bert Jones had played under different circumstances, he probably would have been the greatest player ever. John Riggins has been quoted as saying Jones was the toughest competitor he has ever witnessed.[14] On the eve of Super Bowl XLII, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, in discussing his choices for the greatest quarterbacks of all time, described Jones as the best "pure passer" he had ever seen.[15]
In 2022, the
NFL career statistics
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AP NFL MVP
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Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
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GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
1973 | BAL | 8 | 5 | 1–4 | 43 | 108 | 39.8 | 539 | 5.0 | 4 | 12 | 28.8 | 18 | 58 | 3.2 | 0 |
1974 | BAL | 11 | 8 | 1–7 | 143 | 270 | 53.0 | 1,610 | 6.0 | 8 | 12 | 62.4 | 39 | 279 | 7.2 | 4 |
1975 | BAL | 14 | 14 | 10–4 | 203 | 344 | 59.0 | 2,483 | 7.2 | 18 | 8 | 89.1 | 47 | 321 | 6.8 | 3 |
1976 | BAL | 14 | 14 | 11–3 | 207 | 343 | 60.3 | 3,104 | 9.0 | 24 | 9 | 102.5 | 38 | 214 | 5.6 | 2 |
1977 | BAL | 14 | 14 | 10–4 | 224 | 393 | 57.0 | 2,686 | 6.8 | 17 | 11 | 80.8 | 28 | 146 | 5.2 | 2 |
1978 | BAL | 3 | 3 | 2–1 | 27 | 42 | 64.3 | 370 | 8.8 | 4 | 1 | 114.2 | 9 | 38 | 4.2 | 0 |
1979 | BAL | 4 | 4 | 3–1 | 43 | 92 | 46.7 | 643 | 7.0 | 3 | 3 | 67.4 | 10 | 40 | 4.0 | 1 |
1980 | BAL | 15 | 15 | 6–9 | 248 | 446 | 55.6 | 3,134 | 7.0 | 23 | 21 | 75.3 | 27 | 175 | 6.5 | 2 |
1981 | BAL | 15 | 15 | 2–13 | 244 | 426 | 57.3 | 3,094 | 7.3 | 21 | 20 | 76.9 | 20 | 85 | 4.3 | 0 |
1982 | LAR | 4 | 4 | 1–3 | 48 | 87 | 55.2 | 527 | 6.1 | 2 | 4 | 61.8 | 11 | 73 | 6.6 | 0 |
Career | 102 | 96 | 47–49 | 1,430 | 2,551 | 56.1 | 18,190 | 7.1 | 124 | 101 | 78.2 | 247 | 1,429 | 5.8 | 14 |
References
- ^ Chet Hilburn, The Mystique of Tiger Stadium: 25 Greatest Games: The Ascension of LSU Football (Bloomington, Indiana: WestBow Press, 2012), p. 44.
- ^ a b "LSU to honor Bert Jones at Saturday's game". The Houma Courier. October 20, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
- ^ "Sporting News Archives". Archived from the original on January 21, 2001. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
- ^ "Tigers and Vols Break for Xmas". The Town Talk. December 21, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ^ Higgins, Ron (January 8, 2016). "Former LSU quarterback Bert Jones elected to College Football Hall of Fame". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ Mizell, Hubert (December 20, 1972). "Pro Scouts Look To Jones, Butz As Best". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. p. 19. Retrieved December 31, 2016.
- ^ "Colts' Jones most valuable". Reno Gazette-Journal. Associated Press. December 30, 1976. p. 14. Retrieved February 1, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Offensive Award to Bert Jones". The Victoria Advocate. Associated Press. December 30, 1976. p. 1B. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
- ^ "Bert Jones Quarterbacks All-Pro Squad". Beckley Post-Herald. Associated Press. December 28, 1976. p. 7. Retrieved February 1, 2017.
- ^ Grotz, Bob. "Preseason NFL games can do more harm than good," Delaware County Daily Times (Swarthmore, PA ), Wednesday, August 7, 2019. Retrieved October 19, 2020
- ISBN 978-1-60320-833-8
- ^ "Bert Jones retires due to neck injury". New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung. Associated Press. May 20, 1983. p. 6. Retrieved August 16, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Beathard Interested in Bert Jones's Return". The Washington Post. June 20, 1990. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
- ^ Lamas, Chad (November 30, 2008). "Baltimore Colts' Forgotten Hero Bert Jones". Bleacher Report.
- ^ Collier, Gene (February 2, 2008). "Super Bowl Notebook: Belichick lists Bert Jones as one of his all-time QBs". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- ^ Professional Football Researchers Association. "PFRA's Hall of Very Good Class of 2022". Retrieved July 19, 2022.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Pro Football Reference