View source for Cal Jones

{{Short description|American gridiron football player (1933–1956)}}
{{other people||Calvin Jones (disambiguation)}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox CFL biography
| name              = Cal Jones
| number            = 66
| image             = Cal Jones.png
| alt               = 
| caption           = Jones from 1956 ''Hawkeyes''
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1933|02|07}}
| birth_place       = [[Steubenville, Ohio]], U.S.
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1956|12|09|1933|02|07}}
| death_place       = [[Slesse Mountain|Mount Slesse]], {{nowrap|[[Hope, British Columbia]], Canada}}
| position          = [[Guard (gridiron football)|Guard]]
| height_ft         = 6
| height_in         = 0
| weight_lb         = 220
| college           = [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa]] (1953–1955)
| high_school       = [[Steubenville High School|Steubenville]]
| NFLDraftedYear    = 1956
| NFLDraftedRound   = 9
| NFLDraftedPick    = 98
| NFLDraftedTeam    = [[1956 Detroit Lions season|Detroit Lions]]
| playing_years1    = [[1956 in Canadian football|1956]]
| playing_team1     = [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]]
| career_highlights = 
* [[Outland Trophy]] (1955)
* 2× Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1954 College Football All-America Team|1954]], [[1955 College Football All-America Team|1955]])
* 3× First-team All-[[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] ([[1953 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1953]]–[[1955 All-Big Ten Conference football team|1955]])
| awards            = 
| honors            = 
| retired #s        = [[Iowa Hawkeyes football#Retired numbers|Iowa Hawkeyes No. 62]]
| statlabel1        = Games played
| statvalue1        = 16
| statlabel2        = [[Fumble]] recoveries
| statvalue2        = 2
| CFL-archive       = 
| CollegeHOF        = 1780
| CollegeHOFYear    = 1980
}}
'''Calvin Jack Jones''' (February 7, 1933 – December 9, 1956) was an American professional [[Gridiron football|football]] [[Guard (gridiron football)|guard]]. Jones played [[college football]] for the [[Iowa Hawkeyes football|Iowa Hawkeyes]] and he is one of only two players (along with [[Nile Kinnick]]) to have his jersey number retired by the school. Jones became the first Hawkeye and the first African-American, to win the [[Outland Trophy]] in 1955. He played one year with the [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] of the [[Western Interprovincial Football Union]] (WIFU). He died in a plane crash after playing in the [[CFL All-Star Game|East–West All-Star Game]].

Cal Jones is a member of [[The Pigskin Club Of Washington, D.C.]] National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.

==Youth and recruitment==
Cal Jones was born on the south side of Steubenville, Ohio, the youngest of seven children.  His father died when Jones was about one year old.  His mother, Talitha Jones, raised Jones and his six older siblings during the [[Great Depression]] and [[World War II]].

Jones began playing organized football in the fifth grade.  By the time they neared the end of their time at [[Steubenville High School]], Jones and his two friends, Eddie Vincent and [[Frank Gilliam (American football)|Frank Gilliam]], were being courted by college football programs.  [[Ohio State University|Ohio State]] and their coach, [[Woody Hayes]], offered a scholarship only to Cal Jones.  Jones committed to play at Ohio State, while Vincent and Gilliam accepted scholarships to play for the [[Iowa Hawkeyes]].

Before the fall of 1952, Vincent and Gilliam drove to Jones's house to say goodbye before leaving for Iowa.  Jones shocked his friends when he said, "Wait a minute...I'm coming with you."  Jones ran upstairs, packed a bag, and rode to Iowa City with Vincent and Gilliam.<ref>Calvin Jones: Glitter in Iowa's Golden Era, Maury White, Des Moines Register, April 4, 1971 [http://desmoinesregister.com/sports/extras/hall/jones.html Jones' Register Hall of Fame Bio] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120709125700/http://desmoinesregister.com/sports/extras/hall/jones.html |date=2012-07-09 }}</ref>

Jones' sudden switch from Ohio State to conference rival Iowa caused [[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] commissioner Tug Wilson to conduct a personal investigation.  Iowa was cleared of any wrongdoing.  When questioned, Cal Jones reportedly told Wilson, "I'll tell you why I came out here.  They treated me like a white man, and I like it here.  I'm going to stay."  <ref>Gridiron Glory: 100+ Years of Iowa Football [http://www.iowalum.com/magazine/football_history/1952.html Gridiron Glory: 1952] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016153110/http://www.iowalum.com/magazine/football_history/1952.html |date=2006-10-16 }}</ref>

==College football career==
The "Steubenville Trio" (as Jones, Vincent, and Gilliam were called) arrived with Iowa football in bad shape.  Iowa had had only one winning season in the previous ten years.

Cal Jones was a dominant figure on the field from 1953 to 1955.  In 1953, Iowa finished the year ranked 9th in the final [[AP Poll]], Iowa's best finish since the [[1939 Iowa Hawkeyes football team|Ironmen]] in 1939.  Jones was named as a first team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]].

In 1954, Iowa again had a winning season.  Jones was named as a consensus first team All-American, despite playing the entire year with a broken wrist.  Jones broke it in practice before Iowa's first game but kept the injury concealed from the fans and media all year.  That season, Jones also became the first college football player and first African American to be featured on the cover of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' magazine in its September 27, 1954 issue, which shows a tightly cropped slightly blurry image of Jones face wearing a football helmet. This was the 7th issue of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''.

In 1955, Cal Jones was named as Iowa's team captain.  Though Iowa struggled to a 3–5–1 record, Jones was named as a consensus first team All-American for the second consecutive year.  Cal Jones also won the 1955 [[Outland Trophy]], which goes to the United States' top lineman.  He was the first African-American player to win the prestigious award.  Jones also finished tenth in the balloting for the [[Heisman Trophy]], an impressive finish for a lineman.

==Professional football career==
Cal Jones graduated with a 3.0 grade point average at Iowa.  He was selected in the ninth round of the [[1956 NFL draft]] by the [[Detroit Lions]], but refused to sign with the team as the NFL paid black players less than whites. Instead, he went to Canada and signed with the [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]] of the [[Western Interprovincial Football Union]] (WIFU).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fisher |first=Scott |date=2012-11-02 |title=Calgary Stampeders Edwin Harrison's grandfather Calvin Jones was a solid player |page=S5 |work=Calgary Sun |url=http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/11/02/jones-stuck-to-his-guns |url-status=dead |access-date=2012-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064045/http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/11/02/jones-stuck-to-his-guns |archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref>  As a rookie with Winnipeg in 1956, Jones was named to the WIFU All-Star Team.  The [[CFL All-Star Game|East–West All-Star Game]] in Vancouver would be Jones's final football game.

Iowa qualified for the [[Rose Bowl Game|Rose Bowl]] after the 1956 season.  Frank Gilliam had sat out the 1955 season with a broken leg, so Gilliam was playing his final year for the Hawkeyes.  Jones was to fly home to [[Winnipeg]], gather a few possessions, and then fly to Pasadena to watch Gilliam in the Rose Bowl after the All-Star game.

==Death==

On December 9, 1956, Jones overslept his scheduled morning flight from Vancouver, so he scheduled an afternoon flight to stop at [[Calgary]] then travel to Winnipeg.  Cal Jones' flight on [[Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810]], from Vancouver to Calgary crashed at [[Slesse Mountain]] (aka Mount Slesse), killing all 62 people aboard, including one football official and four players from the [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]].<ref name="TSN">{{Cite web |last=McNeil |first=Shane |date=November 2, 2012 |title=Engraved On a Nation: A Family United Through Tragedy |url=https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408669 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103234307/http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=408669 |archive-date=2012-11-03 |access-date=November 2, 2012 |publisher=The Sports Network}}</ref><ref name="VanSun">{{Cite news |last=Beamish |first=Mike |date=November 1, 2012 |title=Fatal 1956 CFL air crash-Engraved On a Nation: Recalling a flight taken, and not taken |work=The Vancouver Sun |url=https://vancouversun.com/sports/football/lions/Fatal+1956+crash+Engraved+Nation/7479464/story.html |url-status=dead |access-date=November 2, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508121803/http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/football/lions/Fatal+1956+crash+Engraved+Nation/7479464/story.html |archive-date=May 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="62 ABOARD TCA PLANE MISSING IN MOUNTAINS VANISHES IN B.C. STORM. PILOT TURNED BACK AFTER MOTOR FAILED.", ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (Canadian Press item), December 10, 1956, 3 pp, Official passenger list on p.2 |url=https://www.gendisasters.com/air-disasters/6034/mount-slesse-bc-plane-crashes-mountains-dec-1956 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106040613/http://www3.gendisasters.com/air-disasters/6034/mount-slesse-bc-plane-crashes-mountains-dec-1956 |archive-date=January 6, 2014 |access-date=June 16, 2013}}</ref>

Gilliam and the rest of the Iowa Hawkeye team heard of Jones's death as they prepared for the [[1957 Rose Bowl]] against [[Oregon State University|Oregon State]].  The team dedicated Iowa's first Rose Bowl appearance to Cal's memory and won the game, 35–19.  The team sent the game ball to Talitha Jones, Cal's mother in Steubenville.

==Honors==
Cal Jones is currently the only three-time first team [[All-America]]n in Iowa history and was the first college football player on the cover of ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' in 1954.
He is one of only two Iowa players to be named a consensus first team All-American twice ([[Larry Station]] is the other).  Jones was inducted into the [[Iowa Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1971 and the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1980.

In 1989, Iowa fans selected an all-time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football, and Cal Jones was selected to the team as a lineman.  And the University of Iowa retired Cal Jones' #62.  Jones is one of only two players so honored – [[Nile Kinnick]]'s #24 is similarly.

The street where [[Steubenville High School]]'s Harding Stadium is located, is named in Calvin Jones' honor.

==Personal==
Jones' grandson, [[Edwin Harrison]], was a [[National Football League]] guard on the [[practice squad]] of the [[Kansas City Chiefs]]. He currently plays for the [[Calgary Stampeders]] of the [[Canadian Football League]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fisher |first=Scott |date=2012-11-02 |title=Calgary Stampeders' Edwin Harrison pays tribute to grandfather and former CFLer Calvin Jones who was killed in air disaster |page=S4 |work=Calgary Sun |url=http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/11/02/calgary-stampeders-edwin-harrison-pays-tribute-to-grandfather-and-former-cfler-calvin-jones-who-was-killed-in-air-disaster |url-status=dead |access-date=2012-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043924/http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/11/02/calgary-stampeders-edwin-harrison-pays-tribute-to-grandfather-and-former-cfler-calvin-jones-who-was-killed-in-air-disaster |archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> His search to learn more about the life and death of his grandfather and his family history is at the centre of the 2012 documentary ''The Crash of Flight 810'', part of [[The Sports Network|TSN]]'s ''Engraved on a Nation'' series of eight documentaries celebrating the 100th [[Grey Cup]].<ref name=TSN/>

==See also==
* [[1954 College Football All-America Team]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{commons}}
*{{College Football HoF|id=1780}}
*{{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130120020041/http://hawkeyesports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/060904aah.html|date=January 20, 2013|title=Iowa Retired Numbers}}

{{Outland Trophy}}
{{1954 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1955 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Lions1956DraftPicks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Cal}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:American football offensive guards]]
[[Category:Iowa Hawkeyes football players]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Winnipeg Blue Bombers players]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian football offensive linemen]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Steubenville, Ohio]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in British Columbia]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1956]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]