Clinton Jones Joins Spartan Stadium 'Ring of Fame'
9/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Grinczel, MSUSpartans.com Online Columnist
What the Four Horsemen mean to Notre Dame, the quartet with the commonest of names -- Webster, Smith, Washington and Jones -- are to Michigan State. And with Clinton Jones' induction into the College Football Hall of Fame this December and the addition of his name to the Spartan Stadium Ring of Fame before tonight's game against Oregon, they are back together again for time immemorial.
George Webster, who ravaged offenses with his ability to strike from anywhere on the field, was the heart and soul of those great 1965 and '66 National Championship teams.
Bubba Smith, recently named to the National Football Foundation's 75th Anniversary All-American team, provided the Spartans with an outsized personality that captivated the country.
Gene Washington, the elegant wide receiver, remains the conscience of those teams with his poignantly painful recollections of the racial segregation that gripped too much of the nation, and the role Michigan State's football team played in the Civil Rights movement.
And Jones, the former halfback a national magazine once listed among the new breed of ball-carriers it called streaks -- "fast and tough and exciting" -- is the resident philosopher.
"I've thought a lot about what this actually means to me," said Jones, who at the age of 70 is still a practicing chiropractor in Southern California. "And what keeps coming back to me over and over again is the deep appreciation for my life and all the people in my life who have contributed to this honor and all the honors George, Bubba, Gene Washington and myself have received.
"Of course, if it wasn't for the people, and the circumstances, and the fortune that we had around us, none of this would have ever happened."
Through black-and-white photographs, grainy highlight films and legend, Webster, Smith, Washington and Jones have been inextricably linked since their days together in East Lansing. But the placement of this final of four cornerstones feels like an arch through time, half a century in the making, has finally been completed.
"This came to me unexpectedly, and after 50 years it's phenomenal," Jones said. "And it's like it keeps getting better and better every year."
The separation between the glory years of Spartan icons Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty, in the `50s and `60s, respectively, and today's success under current head coach Mark Dantonio -- with two Big Ten championships, four straight bowl victories, an unprecedented 11 or more wins in four of the last five seasons and back-to-back top-five finishes in the national polls -- no longer exists in Jones' mind.
Clinton Jones was honored by the National Football Foundation in a reception at the Spartan Stadium North End Zone Complex on Friday, Sept. 11 for his upcoming induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
"I really believe in my heart of hearts, it's a result of the synergy of the triad with (MSU president) Lou Anna K. Simon, (athletic director) Mark Hollis and Mark Dantonio," he said. "We haven't had that kind of chemistry since our era with President John Hannah, Biggie and Duffy.
"Even though Biggie and Duffy may have had their differences, there was still the energy of that triad."
Jones fell in love with the humanities as a high school student at Cleveland Cathedral Latin, which helps explain his penchant for deep thought and introspection. After his recruitment to Michigan State as a track star and football prospect who was injured his senior season as a prep, he hoped to pursue a liberal arts education. However, since such a program wasn't offered, he majored in social sciences.
As a junior in 1965, Jones led the Spartans to an undefeated regular season with 787 yards and 10 touchdowns. Michigan State had wrapped up conference and national titles that season before losing to UCLA in the Rose Bowl.
Jones and Webster captained the '66 team that ended the season with the "Game of the Century," which ended in a 10-10 tie against Notre Dame and remains a watershed event in the development of college football into the spectacle it is today. Jones led the Big Ten in rushing and ran for 784 yards and six touchdowns as MSU captured a second consecutive national crown.
Jones, a two-time All-American, is 18th on Michigan State's career lists for carries (396) and yards (1,921) and his 268 yards against Iowa in 1966 is fifth on the Spartans' single-game chart.
The games that continue to have the biggest impact on Jones' life are the two MSU didn't win in his final two seasons.
"We lost at the Rose Bowl and we had the game that ended in a tie against Notre Dame but my feeling is I have no regrets because I left everything on the field -- I would have died on the field," he said. "I did the best I could do. I never thought much about statistics when I was playing; all I ever wanted to do is win and that's all I thought about."
Michigan State was long criticized for failing to capitalize on the winning momentum the Spartans generated in the mid-60s. However, Jones doesn't look at the interim, marked by sporadic success and spasms of heartache, as neither good nor bad.
Instead, he compares it to the way Dantonio speaks of how a team has to deal with adversity over the course of a game and a season, and whether the team overcomes it will determine the final results.
"Time eases everything," Jones said. "I don't believe there are any accidents in the whole universe. So this is just the way it had to be for Michigan State and it's very significant. When you go through struggles, what it does is it gives you a deeper appreciation for the significance of when you finally break through. It's like changing poison into medicine."
No Michigan State team has positioned itself to duplicate the feats of Jones' squads better than this year's, and he feels the connection.
"It's not that things are predestined, but I think the significance of this time period, with Michigan State coming back up to the national level, is it's kind of like our mission to be at this place at this time," he said. "There are a lot of things that go on politically and economically to make a change, and there's nothing that works like art, culture and education.
"That's what the university provided President Hannah and during this time period now, with Mark Dantnio's 21st Century Spartans, it's like he's married the past with the present for the sake of the future.
"It's not about living in the past, but it's important for our youth to have an essential view of history because a superficial one is not enough. They need to know what's taken place in the past because it's the foundation upon which they can build their lives."
On game day, the emotions still well up in Jones just as they did when he donned the green and white helmet.
"At 70 years old, the feeling I get before a game is the same as when I was 18, 19, 20 or 21," he said. "It's kind of hard to describe, but it's the same. Football is a game of emotion; it's cathartic. Even though I accomplished great things in track, it's not the same as football. I get that same feeling as if I'm going to go into the game.
"It's weird, but I'm probably not the only one. But it wasn't this way before, until this time period. Something has shifted in my own life along with the shift that's going on at Michigan State right now."
When Jones is celebrated for his accomplishments on the turf in Spartan Stadium once again, he'll be flanked by his wife, Rosie Lee, his five daughters and six grandchildren, along with some of his former teammates.
"It's going to be too emotional," Jones said. "All of us are just human and I hope that I can convey the message that I'm a product, as we all are, of a team effort. We're in the thick and thin of things together, unconditionally. We four just happen to be the ones who carry the banner for all our teammates and these honors acknowledge my debt of gratitude to everyone.
"Out of the four of us, two have passed away, Bubba and George. But so many of my teammates have passed away, who I would love to be here -- Mitch Pruiett, Charles Thornhill, Dick Kenney, Charlie Wiedemeyer, Jim Garrett, Maurice Haynes, so many unsung heroes -- but are here because they're in my heart, in my life."
This feature was also published in the Michigan State Football Gameday Magazine for the Sept. 12 game vs. Oregon.
