| Date of birth: | September 27, 1969 |
| Place of birth: | Blackstone, Virginia |
| Career information | |
|---|---|
| Position(s): | Linebacker |
| Jersey №: | 55, 52, 50 |
| College: | East Carolina |
| NFL Draft: | 1992 / Round: 1 / Pick: 24 |
| Organizations | |
| As player: | |
| 1992-1995 1996-1997 1998-2000 2001 |
Dallas Cowboys St. Louis Rams Miami Dolphins Washington Redskins |
| Playing stats at NFL.com | |
Robert Lee Jones (born September 27, 1969 in Blackstone, Virginia) is a former American football linebacker who played 10 seasons in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, the St. Louis Rams, the Miami Dolphins, and the Washington Redskins from 1992 to 2001.
Jones played college football at East Carolina University and was drafted in the first round of the 1992 NFL Draft by the Cowboys. He was the NFC Rookie of the Year in 1992. He won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys.
Contents |
Early life
Jones is the most decorated linebacker in the history of East Carolina University. He received freshman All-America honors and also earned All-America honorable mention as a sophomore. As a senior in 1991, he was a consensus All-America choice and one of the finalists for the Butkus award. Jones was a co-captain of the 1991 team that finished ranked No. 9 nationally with an 11-1 record and a Peach Bowl victory.
In 2004, he was inducted into the East Carolina University Hall o Fame.
Professional career
Jones was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1st round of the 1992 NFL Draft, becoming the first player from East Carolina University to be drafted in the first round.
As a rookie he started immediately at middle linebacker, helping the Cowboys become the top defense in the league in 1992. He was also named NFC rookie of the year.
In 1993, he only started three games while playing behind Ken Norton Jr..
In 1994, he had the best year of his career, going on to be selected to the Pro Bowl, after registering 162 tackles (then the fourth-highest single season total in Cowboys history) and 4 passes defensed while starting all 16 games at middle linebacker.
During his four seasons with the Cowboys, Jones helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XXVII, Super Bowl XXVIII and Super Bowl XXX.
In the 90's, the Cowboys organization felt they could find linebackers through the draft, without the need of paying a premium and adversely impacting the salary cap, so they allowed talented and productive players like Ken Norton Jr., Darren Smith, Dixon Edwards and Randall Godfrey, to leave via free agency, instead of signing them in to long-term contracts.
In 1996, after he became a free agent, the Cowboys replaced him by signing free agent Fred Strickland. Jones chose to sign with the Saint Louis Rams, where he played 2 seasons before being released for salary cap reasons.
In 1998, he signed a one year contract with the Miami Dolphins, reuniting him with Jimmy Johnson. That season Jones became an integral part of a defense that allowed an NFL low 265 points. He started all 16 regular season games at strongside linebacker and finished third on the team with 100 total tackles. He also put together career-high numbers of five sacks, two interceptions and five passes defensed. He returned one of those interceptions for the first touchdown of his career. After the season, the Dolphins rewarded him with a five year contract extension.
In 2001, after being released by the Dolphins for not restructuring his contract, he signed a one year deal with the Washington Redskins. During that season he started 9 of 15 games.
In 2002, Jones who had become an unrestricted free agent, signed with the Houston Texans but subsequently was released upon his request. One week later, he signed with the Green Bay Packers, but was released shortly after, to make room for signed free agent Hardy Nickerson.
Over his 10 year career, he played in 151 total games and registered 974 tackles, 8 quarterback sacks and 3 interceptions.
Personal life
Jones is the brother-in-law of Jeff Blake who also played at East Carolina University and in the NFL.
External links
|
||||||||
|
|||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
