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 The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine ...

, and helped lead the Alouettes to a

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

win in 1974.

Early years

Jones played football at John Harris High School in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, 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 University of Southern California and became one of the few African American starting quarterbacks of that era in Division I (NCAA), influencing during his college career the breaking of different color barriers. As a sophomore in 1969, he helped lead

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

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

's "all-black" backfield (the first one of its kind in Division I (NCAA) history), that included

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 ...

Sam Cunningham and running back

Clarence Davis Clarence Eugene Davis (born June 28, 1949) is a former American football running back who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Oakland Raiders from 1971 to 1978, having earlier played college football fo ...

. Jones was one of the five

African American starters (along with Sam Cunningham,

, Charlie Weaver and Tody Smith), that played against an all-white University of Alabama

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 ...

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

team. For his career he compiled a 22-8-3 record and established school marks at: * Career passing attempts (602) * Career passes completed (382) * Career passing yards (4,902) * Career rushing attempts (842) * Career touchdown passes and rushing (42) * Passing yards in a season (1,877) * Touchdown passes in a season (13) * Most passes attempted in a season * Total yards in a season (1,936) * Most passes attempted in a game (36) * Most passes completed in a game (21)

CFL career

Montreal Alouettes

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

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 ...

teams as a quarterback. After a year out of

, in 1973 he signed to play in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

he helped his team win the 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

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

the Alouettes once again reached the

1975 Grey Cup The 63rd Grey Cup was played on November 23, 1975, before 32,454 fans at McMahon Stadium McMahon Stadium is a Canadian football stadium in Calgary, Alberta. The stadium is owned by the University of Calgary and operated by the McMahon Sta ...

, but this time they lost to the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

. 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

for the 1976 season, and played 3 years there.

Ottawa Rough Riders

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 ...

, he signed with the

. Jones spent his final season as a back-up to Condredge Holloway, seeing limited playing time.

Career regular season statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Jimmy 1950 births Living people American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Montreal Alouettes players Ottawa Rough Riders players USC Trojans football players Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Wilmington, Delaware African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople