Michael Anthony Jones (born April 15, 1969) is an American football coach and former player who played professionally as a linebacker for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played in the NFL from 1991 to 2002 with his longest tenure as player with the Oakland Raiders. He also played for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, the St. Louis Rams, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jones is best known for making the game-saving tackle ("the Tackle") in Super Bowl XXXIV.
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | April 15, 1969 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Southwest (Kansas City) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Missouri | ||||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1991 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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College career
editJones attended college at the University of Missouri from 1987 to 1990, where he played running back. He set the school record for most career receptions by a running back with 72.[1]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1+1⁄8 in (1.86 m) |
218 lb (99 kg) |
33 in (0.84 m) |
10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) |
4.64 s | 1.66 s | 2.70 s | 4.34 s | 34.5 in (0.88 m) |
10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
20 reps |
Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders
editJones was undrafted in the 1991 NFL draft, but signed with the Raiders as a rookie free agent, and switched to the linebacker position. Between his rookie and second seasons as a Raider, Jones played for the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football where he was the starting middle linebacker for the Surge team that won 1992 World Bowl II. He was the Raiders leading tackler in the 1995 and 1996 seasons.[2]
St. Louis Rams
editPerhaps what Jones is best remembered for is what he did during the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV, which became known as the Tackle, when he tackled then-Tennessee Titans receiver Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line to preserve a Rams victory. During the 1999 regular season that year, he recorded one sack and four interceptions, which he returned for 96 yards and two touchdowns. He also recovered two fumbles, returning them for a combined 51 yards and one for a touchdown. Jones was cut by the Rams following the 2000 season as part of a salary cap purge of high priced veterans.[3]
Pittsburgh Steelers
editJones signed with the Steelers on April 22, 2001.[4]
Oakland Raiders (second stint)
editJones played his last season with the Raiders, where he finished his 12-year career with nine sacks, eight interceptions, 132 return yards, five fumble recoveries, 94 return yards, and four touchdowns (two interceptions and two fumble recoveries) in 183 games.
Coaching career
editAfter retiring as a player, Jones spent six seasons coaching high school football at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He led the team to a state title as the head coach in 2008. In 2010, he coached the linebackers at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was the head football coach at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.[5] Jones is now the head coach at St. Louis University High School. Jones was also on NFL Top 10's "Top Ten One Shot Wonders" at #10.[6][7]
Head coaching record
editCollege
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Blue Tigers (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) (2011–2013) | |||||||||
| 2011 | Lincoln | 1–9 | 0–9 | 10th | |||||
| 2012 | Lincoln | 1–10 | 1–10 | 15th | |||||
| 2013 | Lincoln | 2–8 | 2–8 | T–11th | |||||
| Lincoln Blue Tigers (Great Lakes Valley Conference) (2014–2016) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Lincoln | 2–9 | 1–7 | T–8th | |||||
| 2015 | Lincoln | 1–10 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
| 2016 | Lincoln* | 0–4 | 0–2 | N/A | |||||
| Lincoln: | 7–50 | 4–44 | *Jones was fired by Lincoln prior to the fifth game. | ||||||
| Total: | 7–50 | ||||||||
High school
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazelwood East Spartans () (2008–2009) | |||||||||
| 2008 | Hazelwood East | 11–3 | 4–3 | 5th | |||||
| 2009 | Hazelwood East | 6–5 | 5–2 | 3rd | |||||
| Hazelwood East: | 17–8 | 9–5 | |||||||
| St. Louis University Junior Bills () (2017–2019) | |||||||||
| 2017 | St. Louis University | 3–7 | 1–3 | 4th | |||||
| 2018 | St. Louis University | 1–9 | 0–4 | 5th | |||||
| 2019 | St. Louis University | 5–5 | 1–3 | 4th | |||||
| St. Louis University: | 9–21 | 2–10 | |||||||
| Total: | 26–29 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Mike Jones".
- ^ "Rams Sign Jones, a Linebacker". The New York Times. March 18, 1997.
- ^ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-22-sp-28714-story.html%3f_amp=true [dead link]
- ^ "Ex-Rams linebacker Jones finds new home: Pittsburgh".
- ^ LAKANA (September 26, 2016). "Lincoln fires head football coach Mike Jones". Archived from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ^ "Top 10 one-shot wonders in NFL history". National Football League. June 18, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- ^ "NFL Football Highlights, Clips & Analysis". NFL.com.