Michael Anthony Jones (born April 15, 1969) is an American

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 ...

coach and former player who played professionally as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for 13 seasons in 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). He played in the NFL from 1991 to 2002 with his longest tenure as player with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. He also played for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

, and the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

. Jones is best known for making the game-saving tackle (" The Tackle") in

Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

College career

Jones attended college at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

from 1987 to 1990, where he played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. He set the school record for most career receptions by a running back with 72.

Professional career

Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders (first stint)

Jones was undrafted in the

1991 NFL draft The 1991 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 draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Ma ...

, but signed with the Raiders as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

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 ...

, and switched to the linebacker position. Between his rookie and second seasons as a Raider, Jones played for the

Sacramento Surge The Sacramento Surge was a professional American football team that played in the World League of American Football (WLAF) in 1991 and 1992. The team played its first season at Charles C. Hughes Stadium, Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, and the se ...

of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

where he was the starting middle linebacker for the Surge team that won 1992 World Bowl II. He was the Raiders leading tackler in the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

St. Louis Rams

Perhaps what Jones is best remembered for is what he did during the final play of

, which became known as the Tackle, when he tackled then-

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

receiver Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line to preserve a Rams victory. During the 1999 regular season that year, he recorded one

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

and four

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s, which he returned for 96 yards and two

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. He also recovered two

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

s, returning them for a combined 51 yards and one for a touchdown. Jones was cut by the Rams following the 2000 season as part of a salary cap purge of high priced veterans.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Jones signed with the Steelers on April 22, 2001.

Oakland Raiders (second stint)

Jones played his last season with the Raiders, where he finished his 12-year career with nine sacks, eight interceptions, 132 return yards, five fumble recoveries, 94 return yards, and four touchdowns (two interceptions and two fumble recoveries) in 183 games.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Jones spent six seasons coaching

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Hazelwood East High School in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. He led the team to a state title as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

in 2008. In 2010, he coached the linebackers at

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. It i ...

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. He was the head football coach at Lincoln University in

Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the List of cities in Missouri, 16th most popu ...

. Jones is now the head coach at St. Louis University High School. Jones was also on ''

NFL Top 10 ''NFL Top 10'' is a documentary program produced by NFL Films for airing on the NFL Network. The host and narrator is Derrin Horton. The program counts down 10 items directly related to the players, coaches, and events of the National Footb ...

s "Top Ten One Shot Wonders" at #10.

Head coaching record

College

*Jones was fired by Lincoln prior to the fifth game.

High school

References

External links

Lincoln profile

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mike 1969 births Living people American football linebackers Lincoln Blue Tigers football coaches Los Angeles Raiders players Missouri Tigers football players Oakland Raiders players Pittsburgh Steelers players Sacramento Surge players Southern Jaguars football coaches St. Louis Rams players Players of American football from Kansas City, Missouri African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen High school football coaches in Missouri Birmingham Stallions (2022) coaches