Ernest Jones (born January 3, 1953) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played in four

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

seasons from 1976 to 1979 for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. He was drafted by the Seahawks in the 5th round of the

1976 NFL Draft The 1976 National Football League draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York. The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks m ...

after playing college football for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes (known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes) are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic A ...

. After playing mostly as a backup

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

for the Seahawks in 1976, the Seahawks moved him to

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

during the 1977 preseason, but he was waived before the start of the 1977 season and signed by the Giants. Jones was waived by the Giants during the 1980 preseason and was not picked up by any other team, ending his pro football career. Giants' head coach

Ray Perkins Walter Ray Perkins (November 6, 1941 – December 9, 2020) was an American football coach and player. He played as a wide receiver for the University of Alabama and Baltimore Colts. He later worked as a football coach for 28 years, including sti ...

said of waiving Jones that Jones could no longer play "at a level of winning football" due to a foot injury he suffered during the 1979 season and added that "I recommended he retire. Getting waived was his choice. I know we spoke to nine teams and there was no interest." According to Jones' roommate and fellow Giants' defensive back

Beasley Reece Beasley Young Reece, Jr. (born March 18, 1954, in Waco, Texas) is a former American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college football at North Texa ...

, Jones spent the 1980 offseason working to regain his mobility but wasn't able to.

Personal life

After his playing career, in 1987 he became a police officer for the Miami Dade Police Department retiring as a Sergeant in 2012. He has 2 kids (son & daughter) and 3 Grandchildren. Currently resides in Miami, FL

References

1953 births Living people American football safeties Miami Hurricanes football players New York Giants players Seattle Seahawks players Sportspeople from Boca Raton, Florida {{defensiveback-1950s-stub