Jimmy Jones (quarterback)

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Jimmy Jones (Canadian football)
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Jimmy Jones
Born: (1950-06-23) June 23, 1950 (age 73)
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Career information
CFL statusAmerican
Position(s)QB
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight196 lb (89 kg)
CollegeUSC
High schoolJohn Harris
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.)
Career history
As player
19731975Montreal Alouettes
19761978Hamilton Tiger-Cats
1979Ottawa Rough Riders
CFL East All-Star1974

Jimmy Jones (born June 23, 1950) is a former all-star quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jones was a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC). He moved to Canada in 1973, and played for the Montreal Alouettes, Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Ottawa Rough Riders, and helped lead the Alouettes to a Grey Cup win in 1974.

Early years

Jones played football at John Harris High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he became one of top rated quarterbacks in the nation.

He won the starter job during his junior year, passing and running for over 2,300 yards and 20 touchdowns, then 2,400 yards with 40 touchdowns in his senior year.

Jones was named to the first team

All-American
High School team in 1968 and had numerous scholarship offers.

He was such a dominant player at this level, that the school retired his number No. 10 jersey after his last game. John Harris High School was merged with William Penn High School in 1971, becoming Harrisburg High School.

College career

Jones attended the

Division I (NCAA)
, influencing during his college career the breaking of different color barriers.

As a sophomore in 1969, he helped lead USC to an undefeated season (10-0-1), a Rose Bowl win over the University of Michigan and a third-place ranking. During that season the team became known as the "Cardiac Kids", because of their last-minute comebacks. Jones was also the first

African American quarterback to appear on a Sports Illustrated
Cover (9/29/1969).

In 1970, he was part of

. Jones was one of the five
African American starters (along with Sam Cunningham, Clarence Davis, Charlie Weaver and Tody Smith), that played against an all-white University of Alabama football team, winning 42–21 in Birmingham on September 12, 1970. This game was historically significant, because it played a key role in convincing the University of Alabama and its fan base to accelerate the integration of its football
team.

For his career he compiled a 22-8-3 record and established school marks at:

CFL career

Montreal Alouettes

In the spring of 1972 he went undrafted after not receiving much interest from

NFL teams as a quarterback. After a year out of football, in 1973 he signed to play in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes
.

In

1974 Grey Cup and was named an East All-Star. This would become his finest season with 2297 yards passing, 18 touchdown
passes, 577 yards rushing and 5 TDs. He was selected as the Eastern All-Star at quarterback.

In

Edmonton Eskimos. Unfortunately, on a bitterly cold day Jones mishandled the snap on a last second Don Sweet
field goal and the Als lost the game by one point.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Jones signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for the 1976 season, and played 3 years there.

Ottawa Rough Riders

In 1979, he signed with the Ottawa Rough Riders. Jones spent his final season as a back-up to Condredge Holloway, seeing limited playing time.[1]

Career regular season statistics

CFL Statistics Passing Rushing
Year Team GP Att Com % Yds TD Int # Yds Ave. Lg TD
1973 Montreal Alouettes 14 117 72 61.5 912 6 5 43 269 6.3 31 4
1974 Montreal Alouettes 16 311 163 52.4 2297 18 22 90 577 6.4 25 5
1975 Montreal Alouettes 16 233 120 51.5 1865 10 11 59 301 5.1 32 1
1976 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 14 290 144 49.7 1773 12 9 44 96 2.2 16 1
1977 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 16 302 174 57.6 2156 9 14 58 342 5.9 39 5
1978 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 16 269 159 59.1 2060 9 11 43 204 4.7 28 1
1979 Ottawa Rough Riders 16 199 118 59.3 1342 8 12 27 112 4.1 19 1
Totals 1721 950 55.2 12405 72 84 364 1901 5.2 39 18

References

  1. Newspapers.com Open access icon
    .