Stan Jones (American football)

Last updated

Stan Jones
Stan Jones fb.jpg
No. 78, 73
Position: Guard,
Offensive tackle,
Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born:(1931-11-24)November 24, 1931
Altoona, Pennsylvania
Died:May 21, 2010(2010-05-21) (aged 78)
Broomfield, Colorado
Career information
High school: Lemoyne (PA)
College: Maryland
NFL Draft: 1953  / Round: 5 / Pick: 54
Career history
As a player:
As a coach:
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played:157
Fumbles recovered:7
Player stats at NFL.com  ·  PFR

Stanley Paul Jones (November 24, 1931 – May 21, 2010) was an American professional football player who was a guard, offensive tackle and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991. Jones is credited as the first professional player to use weight training to improve his conditioning for football.

Contents

Early life

Jones was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, but grew up in the Harrisburg area after his father, a telephone company employee, was transferred to that area. [1] He then played football at Lemoyne High School in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania. [1] He attended the University of Maryland, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity.

College career

Jones attended the University of Maryland, where he played college football as a tackle. He was a unanimous All-American selection in 1953. [2] Jones was on some of the most successful Maryland teams. The Terps were co-champions with Virginia Military Institute in 1951 in the Southern Conference. In 1953, they played in the Atlantic Coast Conference and were co-champions with Duke University. [2] That year, they were also named the national champions. Jones was awarded the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy as the nation's outstanding lineman [1] and the school awarded him the Anthony Nardo Award as the team's best lineman. [2] He then played in the College All-Star Game against the Detroit Lions. [1]

Professional career

"He was a leader, somebody you look up to.
I'll tell you one thing, he could lift the side
of a house. He was one strong son of a gun."

Fred Williams, on Jones' ability. [1]

Jones was drafted in the fifth round of the 1953 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and started in 1954 as an offensive tackle. [3] In 1955, Jones switched to guard and, for the next eight seasons, was a fixture at that position and one of the NFL's most highly respected guards. [3]

When the Bears needed help on defense in 1962, assistant coach George Allen decided that Jones could help at defensive tackle. [3] He played both ways in 1962 and then switched to defensive tackle permanently in 1963. [3]

After 1965, Bears coach George Halas agreed, as a favor to Jones, to trade him to the Washington Redskins so that he could play a final season near his home in Rockville, Maryland. [3] He retired after the 1966 season.

Jones missed only two games his first 11 seasons, was an All-Pro guard in 1955, 1956, 1959, and 1960, and played in seven straight Pro Bowls following the 1955 through 1961 seasons. He has also been credited as the first professional player to use weight training for football conditioning. [3]

Coaching career

After playing football, Jones became an assistant coach for the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and the New England Patriots. [1] He later went back to work, this time as a defensive line coach for the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe. [4]

During the mid-1950s Jones also worked in the off-season teaching physical education in the Montgomery County elementary schools.

Honors

Jones is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. In 1977, he made the Atlantic Coast Conference 25-year team. Jones died on May 21, 2010 from complications of a stroke. [5] [6] He had a heart attack which triggered his death. [1] [2] Jones was also named to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron McDole</span> American football player (born 1939)

Roland Owen McDole is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deacon Jones</span> American football player (1938–2013)

David D. "Deacon" Jones was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howie Long</span> American football player, actor, and sports analyst (born 1960)

Howard Matthew Moses Long is an American sports analyst and former professional football player. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons as a defensive end, spending his entire career with the Raiders franchise in Oakland and Los Angeles. Selected by the Raiders in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft, Long received eight Pro Bowl and three first-team All-Pro selections while helping the team win a Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XVIII over the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Huff</span> American football player (1934–2021)

Robert Lee "Sam" Huff was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He played college football for West Virginia University. He was a member of both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the latter of which he became a member in 1982.

Wilber Buddyhia Marshall is an American former professional football player who was a outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for five teams from 1984 until 1995. Marshall played college football for the Florida Gators, was twice recognized as a consensus All-American, and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rayfield Wright</span> American football player (1945-2022)

Larry Rayfield Wright was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Stydahar</span> American football player and coach (1912–1977)

Joseph Lee Stydahar, sometimes listed as Joseph Leo Stydahar, and sometimes known by the nickname "Jumbo Joe", was an American football player and coach. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russ Grimm</span> American football player and coach (born 1959)

Russell Scott Grimm is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He has also served as an assistant coach for the Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals, and Tennessee Titans. As a professional, Grimm had multiple selections to both the All-Pro and Pro Bowl teams, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Grimm played 11 seasons for the Redskins and was a first-team selection to the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abe Gibron</span> American football player and coach (1925–1997)

Abraham "Abe" Gibron was a professional American football player and coach. Gibron played 11 seasons as a guard in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL) in the 1940s and 1950s, mostly with the Cleveland Browns. He was then hired as an assistant coach for the NFL's Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears before becoming head coach of the Bears between 1972 and 1974.

Richard Blair Modzelewski was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, and the Cleveland Browns. He also served as interim head coach of the Browns in the final game of the 1977 season. Modzelewski was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Hampton</span> American football player (born 1957)

Daniel Oliver Hampton is an American former professional football player who was a defensive lineman for twelve seasons with the Chicago Bears from 1979 to 1990 in the National Football League (NFL). He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. He currently hosts the Bears postgame show on WGN Radio in Chicago.

The 1953 National Football League Draft was held on January 22, 1953, at Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. Selections made by the folded Dallas Texans were assigned to the new Baltimore Colts.

Robert Gain was an American football player who played 13 seasons for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL), and also played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played in five Pro Bowls in the space of seven years with the Browns and was a first-team All-Pro selection once and a second-team selection seven times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Zorich</span> American football player and administrator (born 1969)

Christopher Robert Zorich is a former American football defensive tackle who played in college for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins. Zorich was the athletic director at Chicago State University from May 2018 to July 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Stanfel</span> American football player and coach (1927–2015)

Richard Anthony Stanfel was an American football player and coach with a college and professional career spanning more than 50 years from 1948 to 1999. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 2016. He was also named to the National Football League (NFL) 1950s All-Decade Team.

Clyde Earl Shugart was an American football guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Iowa State University and was drafted in the seventeenth round of the 1939 NFL Draft.

John Joseph Miller was a former American football offensive and defensive lineman in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the Green Bay Packers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Hennemier</span> American gridiron football player, coach, and scout

John M. Hennemier was an American gridiron football coach and scout. He served as the head coach for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for one and a half seasons, and also held assistant coaching positions at several colleges, most notably, the University of Maryland, College Park where he helped Jim Tatum coach the Terrapins to the 1953 national championship. After his brief stint in the CFL, Hennemier worked as a professional football scout. He attended Duke University, where he played college football as a center and was named the team's most valuable player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarvis Jenkins</span> American football player (born 1988)

Jarvis Jenkins is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Clemson University.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "78 – Stan Jones – Chicago Bears". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Stan Jones". College Football Hall of Fame . Football Foundation. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Stan Jones' HOF Profile". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  4. ↑ "Jones elected to Hall of Fame in 1991". ESPN. May 22, 2010. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ "NFL Hall of Famer Stan Jones dies". The Globe and Mail . 22 May 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  6. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (23 May 2010). "Stan Jones, Chicago Bears Hall of Famer, Dies at 78". NY Times . The New York Times Company. p. 23. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.