University of Missouri Athletics

From Kansas City, Mike Jones was a solid running back in his playing days at Mizzou, who then went on to a standout professional career as a linebacker. He was Mizzou’s co-captain as a senior in 1990 and led the team in scoring with 10 touchdowns. He was the Tigers’ top rusher as a senior with 485 yards and seven touchdowns and set a school record for receptions in a season by a running back with 41 catches for 405 yards and three TDs. He scored two TDs in MU’s 30-9 upset win over No. 21-ranked Arizona State in 1990 and finished his career with 1,390 yards and 18 touchdowns rushing, and 65 career receptions for 686 yards and five scores. Jones had a career-high 165 rushing yards as a sophomore in the 1988 season finale vs. Kansas, and that year took a fourth-down pass from John Stollenwerck 33 yards for a TD that produced a 28-28 tie against Indiana. He had an outstanding 11-year career playing linebacker in the NFL from 1991-2002. He played from 1991-96 with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, from 1997-2000 with the St. Louis Rams, 2001-02 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and then finished up with the Raiders in the second half of 2002. He made 500 tackles in his NFL career. He made arguably the greatest tackle in Super Bowl history and one of the most dramatic plays in sports history, when he tackled Tennessee Titans WR Kevin Dyson at the one-yard-line on the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV to preserve the Rams win. That play earned him the nickname of “The Tackle.” He went into coaching after his playing days and won a state championship at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis in 2008. He moved on to coach linebackers at Southern University for one year, then spent three years as head coach at Lincoln University in Jefferson City before becoming head coach at St. Louis University High School. He also developed a foundation to benefit disadvantaged youth in Missouri. He was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.