James Jones, Jr. (born December 6, 1958) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Mississippi State Bulldogs.

Early life

Jones attended Vicksburg High School, before moving on to

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. He was a three-year starter and had a junior year to remember, when he was one of the nation's scoring leaders and received second-team All-SEC honors. In 1978, while playing in a pass-oriented offense, he led the team in rushing with 687 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and 10 rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s, 24 receptions for 237 yards, and 3 receiving

s, completed 2 passes for 63 yards and 2

s, and had 3 two-point conversions. He was the nation's seventh leading scorer with 13

s for 78 points. Against

Memphis State University The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

, he rushed for 114 yards on 10 carries (including a 72-yard run) and scored 4

s. Against

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, he registered 162 rushing yards (third in school history) on 30 carries. In 1979, he was lost for the last 7 games of the year after suffering a knee injury during a 28-9 victory against the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

Professional career

Jones was selected by the

in the third round (80th overall) of the

1980 NFL draft The 1980 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, 1980, at the New York Sh ...

. As one of

Tony Dorsett Anthony Drew Dorsett Sr. (born April 7, 1954) is an American former professional American football, football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. Raised in western Pennsylvani ...

's backups, he served the role of an all-purpose

and the team's primary return specialist. As a rookie, he set franchise records for punt returns (54) and punt return yardage (548), breaking Butch Johnson's previous marks. His 10.1-yard punt return average ranked fifth in the NFL and fourth in the NFC. It also made him the second-leading punt returner in team history. His 22 5-yard kickoff ranked sixth in the NFC. In

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

, he had 34 carries for 183 yards and a 5.4-yard average. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

, he suffered a serious left knee injury that cost him 11 games, all of the next year and forced him to start the 1984 season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, after having multiple operations. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

he returned as a situational player. He retired before the start of the 1986 training camp. Jones totaled 1,444 kickoff return yards (20.6 average) and 736 punt return yards (8.5 average) during his career. He registered 331 rushing yards, 312 receiving yards, and 1

pass.

References

External links

One of the Joneses' Becomes Cowboy Hero
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, James 1958 births Living people Players of American football from Vicksburg, Mississippi American football running backs Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Dallas Cowboys players