Tyrone Jones (August 3, 1961 – June 10, 2008) was a

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

all-star and

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 ...

champion

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

in 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 ...

. Born in

St. Mary's, Georgia St. Marys is a city in Camden County, Georgia, United States, located on the southern border of Camden County on the St. Marys River. The Florida border is just to the south across the river, Cumberland Island National Seashore is to the northea ...

, Ty's football career began at Camden County High School, Camden County, Georgia. Jones played his

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 ...

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

. He started his 9-year CFL career in 1983, eventually playing eight seasons with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

(1983–1987, 1989–1991), one with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

(1992) and one with the

B.C. Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

(1993). Though not drafted by the

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 ...

, he tried out with the

Phoenix Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play th ...

in 1988, playing one game for them. He was a four-time CFL and five-time division All-Star. He still holds the Winnipeg career sack record (98) along with

records for most sacks in a game (four) and most career Grey Cup sacks (five). He won the

CFL's Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award The Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award is annually awarded to the best defensive player in the Canadian football League. The winner of the award is selected by members of the Football Reporters of Canada along with the head coaches in the CFL. ...

in 1985 and was on winning Grey Cup teams in 1984 and 1990 (winning the

Grey Cup Most Valuable Player The Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is awarded annually since 1959 to the player of the winning team who deemed to have had the best performance in the Grey Cup Game, the Canadian Football League's championship game. This award is prese ...

in 1984). Jones was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer (a

teratoma A teratoma is a tumor made up of several different types of tissue, such as hair, muscle, teeth, or bone. Teratomata typically form in the ovary, testicle, or coccyx. Symptoms Symptoms may be minimal if the tumor is small. A testicular terato ...

) in August 2005 and fought the disease for nearly three years, dying on June 10, 2008 at the age of 46.Maki: Jones returns to say goodbye
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', November 16, 2006 His teratoma was discovered when he blew a tooth from his tumor out of his nose. Jones had three sons. In 2012, he was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

References

External links

Tyrone Jones fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Tyrone 1961 births 2008 deaths Canadian football linebackers American players of Canadian football BC Lions players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award winners Southern Jaguars football players Phoenix Cardinals players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Deaths from brain cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Georgia (U.S. state) Neurological disease deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) People from St. Marys, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)

References

Further reading

External links