Joe Jones (defensive end)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Joe Jones (tight end), Joseph Jones (American football), or Joey Jones (American football).
Joe Jones
No. 80, 64, 77
Born: (1948-01-07) January 7, 1948 (age 74)
Dallas, Texas
Career information
Position(s)Defensive end
CollegeTennessee State
NFL draft1970 / Round: 2 / Pick: 36
Career history
As player
1970–1973Cleveland Browns
1974–1975Philadelphia Eagles
1975–1978Cleveland Browns
1979–1980Washington Redskins
Career stats

Joseph Willie "Turkey" Jones (born January 7, 1948 in Dallas, Texas) is a retired American football defensive end who spent eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cleveland Browns (1970–1973, 1975–1978), Philadelphia Eagles (1974–1975) and Washington Redskins (1979–1980).

Turkey nickname[]

Some claim that Jones earned his "Turkey" nickname just before Thanksgiving during his rookie season with the Browns in 1970. The veterans on the team pulled a prank on the rookies by sending them off to distant farms to get nonexistent "free turkeys" for the holiday. Jones continued his futile search for hours, long after his fellow rookies had abandoned theirs. He fell for the same prank again the following year.[1] The more likely source of his nickname was because he bobbed his head like a turkey when he ran so some college teammates started calling him Turkey.[2] By the end of his rookie season, he had worked his way into the starting lineup, but a knee injury sidelined him in 1972. Cleveland traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1974, but he was cut the next year, and he re-signed with Cleveland.

Terry Bradshaw incident[]

In 1976, Jones was back in the starting lineup when Pittsburgh rolled into Cleveland for a game with their biggest rivals, the Browns. Although Hal Lebovitz called it Jones' best game at the end of the third quarter, Jones' legacy as the instigator in one of the dirtiest plays (according to Pittsburgh fans), or great plays (according to Cleveland fans) in recent memory was made in the 4th. Jones lined up for a play, beat the offensive lineman (Larry Brown) and wrapped his arms around quarterback Terry Bradshaw. Whistles blew, but Jones ignored them or didn't hear them and lifted Bradshaw up high, and slammed the Pittsburgh QB on his head. As Bradshaw laid there motionless on the ground, the officials marched off a 15-yard penalty for roughing. Bradshaw ended up with a concussion, and Jones ended up with a $3,000 fine.

References[]

  1. ^ Henkel, Frank M. (May 13, 2005). Cleveland Browns History. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738534282 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Posnanski, Joe. "Posnanski's Browns Diary: Era of Turkey Jones is over; Myles Garrett marred his career forever". The Athletic.

External links[]


Stub icon

This biographical article relating to an American football defensive lineman born in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by .

  • v
  • t
Retrieved from ""