Ronald Bernard Francis (born April 7, 1964) 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 who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. 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

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

and was selected by the Cowboys in the second round of the

1987 NFL draft The 1987 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 28–29, 1987, at the Marriot Ma ...

Early life

Francis was one of the best state

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 ...

s at

La Marque High School La Marque High School is a public high school in La Marque, Texas, United States in Greater Houston. The school, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Texas City Independent School District (TCISD); prior to July 1, 2016, the scho ...

as a senior, receiving All-district honors. He played as a quarterback, wingback and safety in the previous years. He also practiced track. He accepted a football scholarship from

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. As a freshman, he was moved from

, starting 4 games while making 23 tackles and 6 passes defensed. In 1983, he was declared academically ineligible. In 1984 as a sophomore, he was moved back to tailback and named the starter. He averaged 95.6 yards per game with three 100-yard efforts before suffering a pulled hamstring in the sixth game. He was also used as the short yardage

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He finished with 127 carries for 558 yards (led the team), 5 rushing

touchdown 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 ...

s, 12 receptions for 119 yards and 2 receiving

s. As a junior, he was moved again to

, where he teamed with

Thomas Everett Thomas Gregory Everett (born November 21, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He played college f ...

to form one of the best defensive secondaries in

. He posted 64 tackles, 6 interceptions (led the conference) and 12 passes defensed. He made 2 interceptions and a career-high eight tackles against the SWC champion

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. In 1985, the defense ranked number 3 in the nation against the pass and he was named

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

defensive player of the year. In 1986, the defense ranked third overall in the nation, with him recording 8 interceptions (led the conference), 2 fumbles recoveries and 11 passes defensed. He had a career-high 3 interceptions against the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. Francis was a standout player in one of the school's most successful eras, as the Bears won 30 games and appeared in three

Bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s (2 wins). He was a two-time All-SWC selection and an honorable-mention All American. He finished with 14 interceptions and 29 passes defensed. In limited duty as a return man, he averaged 8.9 yards on 9 punt returns and 16.7 yards on 3 kickoff returns. As a senior in 1986, he was honored as a second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(UPI). In 2017, he was inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

He was selected by the

in the second round (39th overall) of the

. After the team traded

Ron Fellows Ronald Charles Fellows Order of Canada, CM (born September 28, 1959) is a Canadian retired auto racing driver. Personal life Fellows was born in Windsor, Ontario, on September 28, 1959. At age four, he became interested in auto racing with his ...

, Francis became the first rookie in 6 years to open the season as a starter for the team. He registered 48 tackles, 2 interceptions (one returned for a

), 12 passes defensed (second on the team), 2 fumble recoveries (tied for the team lead). In

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, he entered the season as the starter at right

, before dislocating his left shoulder during an intrasquad game in pre-season. The injury forced him to miss 2 months and allowed former Baylor teammate

Robert Williams Robert, Rob, Robbie, Bob or Bobby Williams may refer to: Architecture * Train %26 Williams#Robert Edmund Williams, Robert Edmund Williams (1874–1960), Canadian-American architect * Robert Williams (architect) (1848–1918), Welsh architect a ...

to win the starting position outright. Francis returned in the third game and would play as the third

on passing situations. He collected 25 tackles, one interception and 7 passes defensed. In

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, Williams suffered a sprained knee in the third game against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, opening the door for Francis to regain the starting position. In the fourth game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

he tallied one interception. The next game against 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 ...

he had a career-high 10 tackles and one pass defensed. After Williams returned to the lineup, they split time at cornerback until the fourteenth game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, when he had 2 passes defensed during extended action in the second half. He started the last 2 games of the season. He posted 34 tackles, one interception (tied for second on the team) and 10 passes defensed (tied for the team lead). In

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, he returned to a backup role, appearing in 15 games.

New England Patriots

Francis was traded to the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

on February 19,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. In exchange for the first overall draft pick of 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 ...

(

Russell Maryland Russell James Maryland (born March 22, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for 10 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He p ...

), he was traded to the Patriots along with

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 ...

Eugene Lockhart Eugene Lockhart, Jr. (born March 7, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots. He played college football at the Universit ...

David Howard, a 1991 first round pick (#11

Pat Harlow Patrick Christopher Harlow (born March 16, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans. His son, Sean Harlow, became ...

) and a 1991 second round pick (#41 Jerome Henderson). He was waived on August 26.

BC Lions

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, he was signed by the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He appeared in 9 games, making 20 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries and one sack. The next year, he appeared in 2 games.

Personal life

His brother James Francis played

in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

for the

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

References

External links

Francis Making Quick Impression
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Ron 1964 births Living people People from La Marque, Texas Players of Canadian football from Texas Players of American football from Galveston County, Texas American football cornerbacks Baylor Bears football players Dallas Cowboys players BC Lions players