Road to 1991 Perfection: Donald Jones Gave Keith Jackson Helpful Directions

Prior to the national championship season, outside linebacker Donald Jones came crashing through to sack the Iowa quarterback during the University of Washington's 46-34 Rose Bowl victory.

Up in the press box, legendary ABC-TV broadcaster Keith Jackson checked his lineup card to identify the perpetrator and made the following observation to his national audience that stretched coast to coast.

"Donald Jones, from Gladys, Virginia," the folksy Jackson said with his soft Georgia accent. "I've heard of a lot of places in America, but I've never heard of Gladys, Virginia."

Jones, as personable off the field as he was menacing on it, got a good laugh when he heard this as he later watched a replay and he never forgot it.

This is another in a series of vignettes about the UW's 1991 national title run, supplementing the conversation for the current pandemic-influenced season. We're now in the aftermath of the Huskies' 12-0 season in this throwback replay.

A year later, Jones returned to the Rose Bowl with his unbeaten Husky team, ready to face Michigan and try to run the table on a perfect season.

Jones was one of the Huskies' four captains, which meant he had to take part in a media briefing session with the ABC-TV crew.

He met Keith Jackson.

The Husky defender took this opportunity to offer the man, who once served as the Husky play-by-play radio broadcaster three decades earlier, a little geography lesson.

"I had a chance to tell him exactly where Gladys, Virginia, was," Jones said.

In the 34-14 victory over the Wolverines, the UW edge rusher did his thing again. He rushed through to sack the Michigan quarterback.

This time Jackson was fully prepared to make the call with all of the necessary details within reach.

"Donald Jones, from Gladys, Virginia," Jackson intoned reverently once more. "I know exactly where that is because Donald told me. It's right near Lynchburg."

Jones, who went on to an NFL career, is a talented person who now lives in North Carolina. In the accompanying video, he provided the eye-catching Husky Stadium backdrop and does a spot-on imitation of the voice of college football.

Gladys, Virginia, it's not hard to find.

Everyone knows where it is now.

"My family got a big kick out of that," Jones said. "It was really funny."

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