MJF Auction
Items
Coming Soon
Jerseys and
more!
Editoršs Note: This story originally appeared in Rams Update. To subscribe click here.
In Focus: Mike Jones
By Randy Karraker
When Dick Vermeil was hired as the Rams' coach in 1997, he returned to the game of football with a plan. He would acquire character football players -- athletes who would work hard to be solid NFL performers -- and then present them to a coaching staff that would teach football skills and take advantage of the work ethic on hand to develop a winning combination.
It comes as little surprise, then, that Mike Jones was among the first players imported by Vermeil ... and is a key ingredient in the Ram renaissance of 1999. He provides the perfect example of character, skills and work ethic that Vermeil is looking for.
At Southwest High School in Kansas City, Jones was a two-way player. Once he got to the University of Missouri, he was so good that the coaching staff couldn't make up its mind.
"When Woody (Widenhofer) got there as coach, I was a running back-slash-linebacker. We only had one fullback when I came in, so they put me at fullback and I did pretty good, so I ended up staying at fullback," Jones recalled. "Then when Bob Stull came in, the defensive coordinator wanted me to move to linebacker, but the offensive coordinator wanted me to stay on offense. Stull was an offensive minded coach, so I stayed on offense.
" As his college career came to an end, Jones envisioned himself as a pro fullback. But when scouts came calling to the Mizzou campus, they didn't have him work out as a running back.
"When I worked out for different teams, I didn't work out as a linebacker. I heard that people wanted me to play that position in an all star game I played in, but other than that, nobody said anything."
In fact, Jones was being tested for his athletic ability.
"They had me doing some drills. I wouldn't necessarily say they were linebacker drills. They weren't running back drills either. They were more like agility drills and stuff like that. It may have been (linebacker drills), but I don't recall exactly them making me going through drops and things like that."
At that point, Jones didn't plan on changing positions.
"When I was playing running back, I wasn't thinking, 'I'm a running back and I really want to move to linebacker.' It happened that way. They gave me an opportunity, and I took it and ran."
"They" were the Los Angeles Raiders. After Jones went undrafted, Raider owner Al Davis gave Jones a two year contract to learn to play linebacker.
"It was an Al Davis thing. He brought me out there and he said he wanted to work me out as a linebacker, so I could be a linebacker. He gave me an opportunity to learn how to play the position."
Davis took special interest in his project, overruling coaches to insert Jones into practice.
Davis also provided Jones the chance to play for the Sacramento Surge of the World League.
"I played sixteen games (with the Raiders), and one game in the playoffs, as a linebacker," Jones recalled. "I was a special teams player, really, but I played linebacker all during the year and then I went to the World League after that."
Indeed, Jones fulfilled Davis' hopes, starting at linebacker for two years with the Raiders. But when he became a free agent after the 1996 season, the Raiders didn't have much salary cap room, and the Rams came calling with a significant offer. Jones had married a St. Louis girl and lived in town, so a move to the Rams was a natural.
While he played for the Raiders, Mike and Leslie Jones saw the gradual construction of the Trans World Dome when they went to their St. Louis church each week during the off-season.
"Church is less than a mile from the stadium. My wife goes to church and comes down to the game after that."
In fact, the hope was that the pastor would change the time of the Sunday morning service to allow the player to attend. But there was one small problem.
"Leslie thought that, because we were playing on the west coast, we played at one. (Games in the Midwest start at noon). We tried to get the service moved up, but what they're doing now is having a special service in the morning so she can go, and then they have one at the same time as before."
The entire team is invited if they like.
"We tried to have some players come down there, and some wives, but Sunday is a hectic day for players and for wives, so if they can get down there, they can."
In coming back to Missouri, Jones was able to increase the amount of work he does with the Mike Jones foundation. During the off-season, Jones conducts five free football clinics for kids, to get them interested in the game and help them improve their skills. Additionally, the foundation has an annual golf tournament that helps raise money for the foundation and for underprivileged youth.
Jones played well, but in relative anonymity as the team struggled to 5-11 and 4-12 seasons. This year, the Rams are rolling...and recently the defense has garnered it's share of attention after the early season offensive explosions.
"I think we've played well all year. It's just that this offense is playing really well too. Coming from where we were last year offensively to where we are now, you're going to get that much more attention on that side of the ball."
Against Carolina at the Trans World Dome, and then at San Francisco, Jones and the defense became offensive. He returned a fumble for a touchdown against the Panthers, then took an interception to the house against the 49ers. He used that old offensive experience in the process.
"Any player, whether you're an offensive player or a defensive player, when you have the ball in your hands, you're going to try to get into the end zone, so I don't think it has to be whether you played offense or not," Jones said. "Once you get the ball in your hand, you become an offensive player whether you know it or not. Once you get the ball in your hand, you just take off and try to get as far as you can."
Jones is having some difficulties with his recent scoring binge. Because of frequent dropped interceptions in practice, teammate D'Marco Farr refuses to believe Jones played running back in college.
"I don't think I'll ever convince D'Marco I was a college running back. But I'm not really worried about it either."
He could pull out some of that old college game film, couldn't he?
"Well, I could do that, but then he's going to make fun of all the things I did wrong. He's always looking for things I've done wrong. You can't please D'Marco right now."
Not Farr, perhaps, but the defensive coaches are happy.
"We just go out every week and try to play to the best of our ability. Lately we've been able to get some turnovers, so it's just been showing up lately."
And turnovers are something defensive coordinators Peter Giunta and John Bunting work on.
"Yeah. We work every week," Jones states. "We have a day where we go out there and work on stripping the ball, work on intercepting the ball, forcing fumbles, things like that. So it's just happened that we've been able to get the balls out."
And once Jones gets the ball?
"When I had the ball in my hand, I was just saying to myself, 'Get as many yards as you can.' Then I saw I had the opportunity to score. Then once I got to the 10, I was thinking, 'I can't come up short now, I can't get all the way down here and let someone else get all the glory, so I'm going to get into the end zone.'"
Indeed, he's done it twice, to the delight of family members. His in-laws are enjoying the Rams' success.
"They're having a great time. My mother in law is a teacher, so she has a lot of her kids come up to her and say 'I saw your son in law do this and do that,' so she can use that against them. She says 'I'll have Mike come down and talk to you if you don't do the right thing.'"
Touchdowns aside, Jones has turned into quite a linebacker.
"He's doing a good job," said Vermeil. "He's going to make a mistake now and then. But he's a solid player."
And improving.
"It's still a process to this day," Jones said. "If you ask anyone, even guys that have played linebacker. One of my coaches said it took three to four years to learn how to play linebacker in the NFL, even after you've played it in college. It's still a process. I still make some mistakes. You talk to any linebacker, and they make mistakes as well. But I would say that about my third year is when I started feeling comfortable playing the position."
After four full seasons of playing linebacker and two agonizing years of losing in St. Louis, Jones is finally reaping the rewards of his, and his teammates' hard work.
"It's great. We won five games my first year and four my second year, so we have won the same amount of games that we won in two years. To see how this team has grown...this team is still young, but a lot of these young players were here when we first got here, so they can experience going through the growing pains and then getting better."
Just like Jones. Young Rams would do well to copy what Jones does, and what Vermeil wants...represent your team and your community with class and character, work hard at your craft, and hone your skills to be the best you can be
