Roderick Wayne Jones (born March 31, 1964 in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

who was selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the 1st round (25th overall) of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 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 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott ...

. A 1982 graduate of

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a pa ...

and former player for

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

,"My High School: South Oak Cliff,"
''The Dallas Morning News'' sports section online. Jones played in 11 seasons for the Bucs and

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

from 1986 to 1996. At SMU, he was an All-American in the 400 meters, and won national titles with the 1,600-meter relay team in 1984 and 1986. The latter occurred only four days before his report to Buccaneers training camp. He won SMU's Big Hit award in his last two football seasons, where he was nicknamed "K.O." for his hard-hitting play. He was later named as one of the players who had received slush-fund money in the scandal that resulted in SMU receiving the "death penalty" from the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

. Jones was the first of the 1986 first-round draft picks to sign with his team. There was concern that his contract, described as "terrible" by sports agents, would set a bad precedent in negotiations that year. It featured a high signing bonus and a salary far below the previous year's average. He was inserted immediately into the Bucs' starting lineup as a rookie. In his professional career, he appeared in 146 games, intercepting 10 passes for 49 yards. Jones' claim to fame is having caught

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...

, who appeared to have a touchdown, from behind after an 88-yard run in 1990.

References

1964 births Living people American football cornerbacks Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Cincinnati Bengals players SMU Mustangs football players {{defensiveback-1960s-stub