Jon Charles Naekauna Francis (born June 21, 1964) is former

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 wi ...

player. He is the son of former

Green Bay Packer The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the thi ...

Joe Francis Joseph R. Francis (born April 1, 1973) is an American entrepreneur, film producer and the founder and creator of the Girls Gone Wild entertainment brand. Francis worked as a production assistant on the syndicated program ''Real TV'' before rel ...

, and half-brother of Detroit Lions 2007 second-round draft pick

Ikaika Alama-Francis Brent Ikaika Alama-Francis (born December 4, 1984) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hawaii Warriors football, Hawaii. Early y ...

High school and college football

Francis attended Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon and starred in football. Francis played strong safety and tailback for the Spartans. His senior year rushing total of 1702 yards in 1981 was the school record until 2004. Francis played his freshman season at Colorado State University. His sophomore season, he played running back at

Taft College Taft College is a public community college in Taft, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges system and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The college is one of only a few community ...

. Francis transferred to Boise State to finish out his college career. In those two seasons at Boise State, Francis ran for a combined 2,172 yards. Both seasons earned him a spot as a Big Sky Conference All-Star.

Professional career

Francis was drafted in the seventh round of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 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 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the New York Giants. Francis injured his ankle in a pre-season practice. The injury heavily limited his ability to show his talent, and he was subsequently cut by the team in August of 1986. Francis signed with the New England Patriots in 1987, but was unable to make the teams roster and was cut in the pre-season. After the completion of week 2 of the 1987 season, the NFLPA chose to go on

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

. Francis signed with the Los Angeles Rams as a

replacement player In professional sports, a replacement player is an athlete who is not a member of the league's players association and plays during a labor dispute such as a strike or lockout, serving as a strikebreaker. Instances of replacement players Nati ...

during the four-game strike. As a replacement, he saw his first live game carries. When the strike ended, Francis was the only replacement player to remain on the team. Jon played in 9 games and had 35 carries for 138 yards and 8 receptions for 38 yards and 2 touchdowns. Francis was brought back to camp by the Rams in 1988, but was cut near the end of August before the season began.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Jon 1964 births Living people American football running backs Boise State Broncos football players Corvallis High School (Oregon) alumni Los Angeles Rams players Native Hawaiian sportspeople Players of American football from Oregon Sportspeople from Corvallis, Oregon National Football League replacement players