Joseph Willie "Turkey" Jones (born January 7, 1948) is a former American football defensive end who spent eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cleveland Browns (1970–1973; 1975–1978), Philadelphia Eagles (1974–1975) and Washington Redskins (1979–1980).

Turkey nickname

Per Jones' daughter, Leone Jones Hopewell, he did earn his "Turkey" nickname just before Thanksgiving during his rookie season with the Browns in 1970. The veterans on the team pulled a prank on the rookies by sending them off to distant farms to get nonexistent "free turkeys" for the

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

. Jones continued his futile search for hours, long after his fellow rookies had abandoned theirs. He fell for the same prank again the following year. The not-true story his nickname was because he bobbed his head like a turkey when he ran so some college teammates started calling him Turkey. By the end of his rookie season, he had worked his way into the

starting lineup In sports, a starting lineup is an official list of the set of players who will participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as ''starters'', whereas the others are ''substitutes'' o ...

, but a knee injury sidelined him in 1972. Cleveland traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1974, but he was cut the next year, and he re-signed with Cleveland.

Terry Bradshaw incident

In 1976, Jones was back in the starting lineup when Pittsburgh rolled into Cleveland for a game with their biggest rivals, the Browns. Although

Hal Lebovitz Hal Lebovitz (September 11, 1916 – October 18, 2005) was a sportswriter and columnist. He was a fixture on Cleveland, Ohio's sports scene for more than six decades. In 2000, he was inducted into the writer's wing of the National Baseball Hall of ...

called it Jones' best game at the end of the third quarter, Jones' legacy as the instigator in one of the dirtiest plays (according to Pittsburgh fans), or great plays (according to Cleveland fans) in recent memory was made in the 4th. Jones lined up for a play, beat the

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

( Larry Brown) and wrapped his arms around quarterback Terry Bradshaw. Whistles blew, but Jones ignored them or didn't hear them and lifted Bradshaw up high, and slammed the Pittsburgh QB on his head. As Bradshaw laid there motionless on the ground, the officials marched off a 15-yard penalty for roughing. Bradshaw ended up with a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

, and Jones ended up with a $3,000 fine.

References

External links

* 1948 births Living people American football defensive ends Tennessee State Tigers football players Cleveland Browns players Philadelphia Eagles players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Dallas {{defensive-lineman-1940s-stub