Jon Dwane "Jaguar Jon" Arnett (April 20, 1935 – January 16, 2021) was an American 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 ...

player. He was a first-team All-American out of

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 ...

and was chosen in the first round, second pick overall, of the

1957 NFL draft The 1957 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on November 26, 1956, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia and its final twenty-six rounds on January 31, 1957 at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel also in Philadelphia. This was ...

by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

. During a successful 10-year career in the

National Football League 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 ...

, Arnett was selected five consecutive times to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

from 1957 to 1961 before chronic knee pain reduced his effectiveness. He was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 2001.

Biography

Early life

Jon Arnett was born April 20, 1935. He attended Manual Arts High School in

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, for which he competed on the school

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

team.Bruce Lee, "When Will They Get Arnett?" ''Pro Football 1961.'' New York: Fawcett Publishing, 1961; pp. 54-55, 78-79. Arnett later attributed much of his career success as an elusive running back to this early background in gymnastics. Arnett also participated in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

in high school and later in college, specializing in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. In 1954 Arnett posted a near-record of 24'8.75" in an NCAA meet. During his 1952 senior season, Arnett scored a total of 112 points, eclipsing the old single-season high school record of 110, in leading the Manual Arts Toilers to the Los Angeles city championship.Jon De La Vega
"Jon Arnett Voted Top City Player,"
''Los Angeles Times,'' Dec. 27, 1952, pt. 3, p. 2. The All-Southern California Board of Football, working through the Helms Athletic Association, named Arnett to the first team of the Los Angeles All-City high school football team and selected him as the 1952 Player of the Year.

College career

Arnett attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

, for which he played football and ran track. Arnett was the multiple recipient of the

W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy The W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation from 1951 to 1978 to the outstanding college football player on the Pacific Coast. The recipient was determined based on votes cast by West Coast football writers and later ...

as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast. Arnett won the Voit Trophy in both 1955 and 1956. *1954: 96 carries for 601 yards and 7 TD. 3 catches for 104 yards and 2 TD. *1955: 141 carries for 672 yards and 11 TD. 6 catches for 154 yards and 3 TD. *1956: 99 carries for 625 yards and 6 TD. 2 catches for 38 yards. During his sophomore season USC was granted a bid to the

1955 Rose Bowl The 1955 Rose Bowl was the 41st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, January 1. The top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference defeated the USC Trojans of ...

despite a second place finish in the

Pacific Coast Conference The Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) was a college athletic conference in the United States which existed from 1915 to 1959. Though the Pac-12 Conference claims the PCC's history as part of its own, with eight of the ten PCC members (including a ...

, owing to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

being ruled ineligibile.Fritz Howell
"Ohio Fans Still Strutting After Win,"
''Redwood City Tribune,'' Jan. 3, 1955; p. 6. The speedy Arnett acquitted himself well, finishing with 123 yards gained on just 9 carries, including a 70-yard scamper in the fourth quarter, but the Trojans fell nonetheless by a score of 20–7. Arnett was a first team All American during his 1955 junior year at USC but was limited to only half a season of eligibility in 1956 due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

penalties against the Pacific Coast Conference for recruiting violations.

Professional career

Arnett was selected by the

in the first round of the

, the number two choice overall, one of two running backs picked ahead of legendary

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fullback

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

in that lottery. His initial contract signed with the Rams was a one-year deal for $15,000.Cliff Newell
"Jaguar Jon,"
''Lake Oswego Review,'' January 31, 2008. The most he ever made in a single season during his ten-year career was $37,000. In addition to averaging 4.6 yards per carry during his first four seasons with the Rams, Arnett also served as a punt return and kickoff return specialist and was among the team's leading pass receivers. Arnett's production fell off after the 1961 season — his last of five consecutive trips to the

— when a chronic "knee sprain" began to exact its toll.Jerry Winn
"Arnett's Ram Career in Balance,"
''Long Beach Press-Telegram,'' Aug. 13, 1964; p. C-1. Largely robbed of the fluidity which made his open-field running a constant big play threat for the Rams, Arnett came to be viewed as expendable by the team in the run-up to the 1964 season. Arnett acknowledged his status, declaring "The hardest thing with any athlete is to be injured. The relationship with players and coaches becomes different." With predictions of the forthcoming move rife, Jon Arnett was traded to the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

in August 1964.Jerry Winn
"'I Couldn't Be Happier' —Jon,"
''Long Beach Press-Telegram,'' August 24, 1964; p. C-1. In the 3-for-1 trade the Rams received four-year starting

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

Roger Davis, center

Joe Wendryhoski Joseph Stanley Wendryhoski (March 1, 1939 – November 6, 2008) was a professional American football player who played guard for five seasons in the National Football League. Wendryhoski was born on March 1, 1939, in West Frankfort, Illinois, w ...

, a veteran of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

, and rookie

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 ...

Frank Budka of Notre Dame. Legendary Bears head coach

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

declared that the addition of the veteran Arnett helped fill a "gaping hole" for his club in the aftermath of the death of left halfback

Willie Galimore Willie "The Wisp" Galimore (March 30, 1935 – July 27, 1964) was an American professional football player who was a halfback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears from 1957–1963. He attended Florida A&M University, ...

. " Ron Bull has been filling in adequately," Halas said, "but we needed another man at the position." Arnett would play three largely uneventful seasons for the Bears, retiring after the 1966 campaign. Arnett was known by teammates as "The Cat" and by the popular nickname of "Jaguar Jon." Arnett's nicknames were attributed to an "unusual sense of balance and body coordination which enables him to dodge, cut, and slip from tacklers."

NFL career statistics

Life after football

Arnett was married in June 1959 to a former USC classmate and

Rose Parade The Rose Parade, also known as the Tournament of Roses Parade (or simply the Tournament of Roses), is an annual parade held mostly along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, California, United States, on New Year's Day (or on Monday, January 2 if N ...

princess, Yvonne Flint of

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

. During his NFL years Arnett worked in the off-season as a stock and bond broker for the firm of Hayden, Stone & Co. of

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...

. Arnett ran a distribution service and supplied frozen foods to

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...

, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart. After living for many years in the

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

coastal town of

Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Palos Verdes (Spanish for "Green Sticks Ranch") is a coastal city located in Los Angeles County, California atop the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, neighboring other cities in the Palos Verdes Hills, including Palos Verdes Estate ...

, Arnett and his family moved to

Lake Oswego, Oregon Lake Oswego () is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Located about south of Portland and surrounding the Oswego Lake, the town was ...

. "I went to grammar school, junior high school, high school, USC, and the Rams, all within a 5 mile radius," Arnett told an Oregon journalist in 2008. "I was really a Southern California person. Now you couldn’t get me to go back there."

Death and legacy

Arnett died on January 16, 2021, from heart failure in

. Arnett was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994 and the

in 2001 as a member of the USC Trojans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnett, Jon 1935 births 2021 deaths Players of American football from Los Angeles Sportspeople from Lake Oswego, Oregon American football running backs American football return specialists USC Trojans football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Los Angeles Rams players Chicago Bears players Western Conference Pro Bowl players Second overall NFL draft picks