1. Calvin Jack Jones was an American professional football guard.
24 Facts About Cal Jones
1. 2.
Cal Jones became the first Hawkeye and the first African-American, to win the Outland Trophy in 1955.
3.
Cal Jones played one year with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Western Interprovincial Football Union.
4.
Cal Jones is a member of The Pigskin Club Of Washington, DC National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.
5.
Cal Jones was born on the south side of Steubenville, Ohio, the youngest of seven children.
6.
Cal Jones's father died when Jones was about one year old.
7.
Cal Jones committed to play at Ohio State, while Vincent and Gilliam accepted scholarships to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
8.
Cal Jones was a dominant figure on the field from 1953 to 1955.
9.
Cal Jones was named as a consensus first team All-American, despite playing the entire year with a broken wrist.
10.
Cal Jones broke it in practice before Iowa's first game but kept the injury concealed from the fans and media all year.
11.
That season, Cal Jones 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 Cal Jones face wearing a football helmet.
12.
In 1955, Cal Jones was named as Iowa's team captain.
13.
Cal Jones won the 1955 Outland Trophy, which goes to the United States' top lineman.
14.
Cal Jones was the first African-American player to win the prestigious award.
15.
Cal Jones finished tenth in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy, an impressive finish for a lineman.
16.
Cal Jones graduated with a 3.0 grade point average at Iowa.
17.
Cal Jones 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.
18.
Cal 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.
19.
Cal Jones is currently the only three-time first team All-American in Iowa history and was the first college football player on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1954.
20.
Cal Jones is one of only two Iowa players to be named a consensus first team All-American twice.
21.
Cal Jones was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in 1971 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980.
22.
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.
23.
Cal Jones' grandson, Edwin Harrison, was a National Football League guard on the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs.
24.
Cal Jones currently plays for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.