James Roosevelt Jones (born March 21, 1961) is an American former college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. Jones played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the University of Florida and then played professionally for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and 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 ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Jones was born in

Pompano Beach, Florida Pompano Beach ( ) is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is located along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, just north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. As of the 2020 ...

.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
James R. Jones
Retrieved July 6, 2010. He attended Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach,databaseFootball.com, Players
James Jones
. Retrieved June 4, 2010. and he was a star high school football player for the Blanche Ely Mighty Tigers. Jones was so versatile in his ability to play multiple positions that he was nicknamed the "Franchise." FHSAA unveils '100 Greatest Players of First 100 Years' as part of centennial football celebration
," Florida High School Athletic Association (December 4, 2007). Retrieved May 26, 2011. ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' magazine named him as a high school All-American after his senior season. In 2007, twenty-eight years after he graduated from high school, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recognized Jones as one of the "100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years" of Florida high school football.

College career

Jones received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Charley Pell's Florida Gators football team from

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 87, 96, 103, 124, 138–140, 147–148, 182 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011. During Jones' sophomore season in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, he was a member of the Gators team that posted the biggest one-year turnaround in the history of NCAA Division I football—from 0–10–1 in 1979 to an 8–4 bowl team in 1980. He was a team captain in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

and 1982, a first-team All- Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1981 and 1982, and a third-team/honorable mention All-American in 1982. He also received the Gators' Fergie Ferguson Award, recognizing the "senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage," in 1981. Jones finished his Gator career with 2,026 yards rushing, 593 yards receiving and forty-eight yards passing, and led the team in rushing yardage for three consecutive seasons from 1980 to 1982. He was later inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great" in 1998. In a 2006 article series published by ''The Gainesville Sun'', the ''Sun'' sportswriters ranked him as the No. 45 all-time greatest Gator from the first century of the Florida Gators football team.

Professional career

The

selected Jones in the first round (thirteenth pick overall) of the

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York She ...

,Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History
1983 National Football League Draft
Retrieved June 4, 2010. and he played for the Lions from to .National Football League, Historical Players
James Jones
July 6, 2010. Jones started off for the Lions blocking for Billy Sims but became the featured back for the Lions in when Sims was injured. Jones played with

Garry James Garry Malcolm James (born September 4, 1963) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League. He played three seasons for the Detroit Lions (1986–1988). James played three seasons in the Lions backfield ...

from to and the tandem became known as the "James Gang." Jones' best game with the Lions was in week 1 of in a 13–10 win over the Vikings; he rushed for 174 yards on thirty-six carries and was recognized as the NFC offensive player of the week for his performance. Jones was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in for defensive back Terry Taylor, and he finished his NFL career with the Seahawks in . Jones finished his ten-season NFL career having played in 135 games, started ninety-one of them, rushed for 3,626 yards and twenty-six touchdowns on 1,010 carries, and caught 318 passes for 2,641 yards and ten touchdowns.

Life after the NFL

Jones became the head football coach for his high school alma mater Blanche Ely, in 2007, but he resigned in May 2008 after a single season.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, James 1961 births Living people People from Pompano Beach, Florida Sportspeople from Broward County, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football running backs Blanche Ely High School alumni Florida Gators football players Detroit Lions players Seattle Seahawks players High school football coaches in Florida Ed Block Courage Award recipients