Boyd Efram Jones (born May 30, 1961) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player in the

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

and

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

positions. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas Southern Tigers The Texas Southern Tigers represent Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, in intercollegiate athletics. They field sixteen teams including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, and track and field; women's-only bowling, socce ...

and later for one season professionally with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). __TOC__

Early life

Jones was born on May 30, 1961, in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. After high school, he enrolled at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

(TSU) in 1979, where he played for the

Texas Southern Tigers football The Texas Southern Tigers is the college football team representing Texas Southern University, a Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university (HBCU) in Houston. The Tigers play in the National Collegiate Athletic As ...

team as an

. He attended TSU from 1979 to 1983 and was a four-year starter for the Tigers. Standing at and weighing , he and James Grisby were the team's two largest offensive players. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

in 1982, Jones was named second-team All-

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United St ...

(SWAC). TSU performed poorly during Jones's tenure with the team, compiling records of 3–8 (1979), 2–9 (1980), 4–6–1 (1981), 1–9–1 (1982), and 4–6 (1983) in his years there. He played under multiple head coaches at TSU. He was scouted by the

while in college; one scout recalled that when visiting, the school's offensive line coach was absent, and thus Jones stepped in to the role.

Professional career

Jones was selected by the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducin ...

in the 1984 USFL territorial draft but did not sign with them. After going unselected in the

1984 NFL draft The 1984 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held May 1–2, 1984 NFL season, ...

, he signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Packers offensive line coach

Jerry Wampfler Jerry Wampfler (August 6, 1932 – January 21, 2024) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Colorado State University from 1970 to 1972, compiling a record of 8–25. Prior to being hired at Colorado ...

described Jones as inexperienced and called him "green as grass", but Jones soon impressed him as he "was tenacious, had quick feet and was hard to knock off balance", according to the ''

Green Bay Press-Gazette The ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' is a newspaper whose primary coverage is northeastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay. History The newspaper was founded as the ''Green Bay Gazette'' in 1866 as a weekly paper, becoming a daily newspaper in 1 ...

''. Considered small for tackle, he was moved to

during the team's training camp. He was described as being a "longshot" to make the team, but nonetheless made the final roster by beating out Ron Sams. Head coach

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

noted that Jones had "really come a long way in a short time. He did a good job at both guard and tackle." He made his NFL debut in the team's season-opening win over the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

, and also saw action the following week against the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). The Raiders played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural ...

. However, he was released by the Packers on September 15, 1984, six days after his second game. He did not sign with another team afterwards, ending his professional career with two games played.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Boyd 1961 births Living people Players of American football from Galveston, Texas American football offensive tackles Texas Southern Tigers football players Green Bay Packers players 20th-century American sportsmen