OU Memories: Cedric Jones was the Right Sooner at the Right Time
Cedric Jones against Texas
OU Athletics
The anticipation for that mighty roar — the one that shakes the Palace on the Prairie on Saturdays in the fall — was palpable.
The year was 1992, and the University of Oklahoma football program was coming off of a three-year NCAA probation. Sooner Nation, eager for the hitting, eager for the winning, was chomping at the bit.
Cedric Jones was the right Sooner at the right time.
Born and raised in Houston, growing up with a love for football and an awareness of the Sooners, Jones might be one of the most underappreciated players of his era.
“As a kid in Houston, you watch OU,” Jones said. “They were one of the premier programs. Usually the only time we got Oklahoma was against the University of Texas or if they made a bowl game. When you watched all the success that they had, it became more of a dream — more of a long dream, not necessarily something that you can obtain.”
Jones graduated from Lamar High School and became one of the most sought after defensive players in the state. At Lamar, Jones earned the Houston Touchdown Club’s Defensive Player of the Year and was a two-time District Defensive Player of the Year. He also was a two-time First-Team All-District honoree.
Impressed by OU’s championship tradition under Barry Switzer and influenced by a Sooner defense that featured All-Americans like Brian Bosworth and Tony Casillas, Jones crossed the Red River and became a Sooner. He played three seasons for Gary Gibbs and one for Howard Schnellenberger.
Cedric Jones against Missouri
OU Athletics
In 1994, as a junior at OU, Jones set the single-game school record with five quarterback sacks against Texas Tech, a record that still stands today. He also holds the single-season sacks record with 14.0, tied with Martin Chase.
He finished his senior year in 1995 with a career total of 31.5 sacks, still the Sooners’ standard.
“It was electrifying,” he said. “When you reach a certain point, you have different goals, but at the same time you’re standing in the moment.”
Jones entered the 1996 NFL Draft and was selected fifth overall by the New York Giants.
“I was sitting in Houston with a bunch of my high school friends,” he said. “I get the call … answer the phone and at that point it was pure joy.”
In 73 NFL games in a Giants uniform, Jones accounted for 151 total tackles (111 solo) and racked up 15 sacks. He also played a key role in helping his team reach its first Super Bowl in a decade (a loss to Baltimore in 2000-01).
Cedric Jones against the Cardinals
Courtesy photo
“Maybe some kids dream of playing in that game,” Jones said, “but my dreams never went that big where you thought, ‘I can play in a Super Bowl, I can play in a Super Bowl.’
“Looking back, you’re running out of the tunnel, you just flash back to all the times you were sitting at home watching the game with family or friends — and now all of a sudden you’re on the opposite side. Now you’re involved in this game. It can be, you know, overwhelming and unbelievable at the same time. You’re like, ’Is this really happening?’ ”
Jones left the Giants after the 2000 season and nearly landed with the St. Louis Rams. Due to injury, however, he never played another down in the NFL.
Still, his brief stint with the Rams wouldn’t be for nothing. Today, Jones works for the Los Angeles Rams as a scout.
“I had an old teammate that I played with at the Giants and with the Rams, and he called me and said ‘I think I might have something for ya; I want you to come up and spend some time with me because I think you’ll be pretty good at this job, working in the personnel department,’ “ Jones said. “It’s one of those jobs that, you’ve got the license to watch football from day to night. So I can watch football from 7 in the morning to midnight, just trying to find players. It’s one of those job where you definitely have to love football and love the game.”
A career in football wasn’t the only thing that Oklahoma gave to Cedric Jones. In 2000, he married his college sweetheart, Susi.
“She had a cousin that was on the OU football team,” he said. “We would face each other in practice. I guess I was out at a restaurant and she came up to me and told me who her cousin was.”
Though Jones’ best season of his career came in 1999, his biggest accomplishment would come off the field in October of that year: Cedric and Susi became the parents of twins, Cailey and Cameron.
In 2009, their youngest son, Cash, completed the family.
Even with all the records Jones still owns at OU — 31.5 career sacks, six tackles for a loss in a game, five sacks in a game — the real legacy he leaves in Norman goes far beyond the stat sheet.
Jones’ uncommon determination and winning attitude during a tough rebuilding stage of OU football ultimately helped set the bar for generations of Sooners still to come.
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