IRVING, Texas  (Sept. 11, 2015) – Michigan State and The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that they will jointly honor Clinton Jones with an NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute, presented by Fidelity Investments, this Saturday, Sept. 12, in East Lansing, Mich., during the game between Michigan State and Oregon. Coverage of the game will start at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

“When I opened the letter from [NFF] President Steven Hatchell, I lost it because I realized the significance and rarity of being inducted into this elite group,” Jones told Michigan State after the announcement in January. “There are no words to describe my feelings; I'm simply overwhelmed. It's rare to have played college football, but for me to have had the opportunity to play on a historical, ground-breaking team that brought so much diversity to NCAA football at a time when the country was going through so much negativity and social change, really makes me so profoundly appreciative to have played a small part in it all.”

The NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute program is a hallowed tradition that began with the inaugural class in 1951, and to this day the salutes remain the first of numerous activities in each inductee’s Hall of Fame experience. During the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes, each inductee returns to his alma mater to accept a Hall of Fame plaque that will remain on permanent display at the institution. The events take place on the field during a home game, and many inductees cite the experience as the ultimate capstone to their careers, providing them one more chance to take the field and hear the crowd roar their name.

“Clinton Jones was an outstanding running back for Michigan State in the mid-sixties,” said NFF President and CEO Steve Hatchell. “He was a member of one of the greatest recruiting classes in college football history and led the Spartans to back-to-back national championships in 1965 and 1966. We are thrilled to honor him at Spartan Stadium.”

A two-time First Team All-American, Jones was a consensus pick as a senior after finishing sixth in the 1966 Heisman Trophy voting. He was a two-time consensus First Team All-Big Ten selection. The Cleveland native led the Spartans to back-to-back Big Ten championships in 1965 and 1966, and he set conference single-game records for rushing touchdowns (4) and rushing yards with 268. Jones led Michigan State in rushing as a junior and senior, and he finished his career as the school’s second all-time leading rusher with 1,921 yards and 20 touchdowns. Coached by College Football Hall of Famer Duffy Daugherty, Jones led Michigan State to a 19-1-1 record and a berth to the 1966 Rose Bowl during his career while playing alongside Hall of Famers Bubba Smith, Gene Washington and George Webster.

The second overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1967 NFL Draft, Jones spent six seasons with the Vikings and one final season with the San Diego Chargers. He helped the Vikings reach Super Bowl IV and finished his NFL career with 2,178 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns as well as 5,035 all-purpose yards.

Jones was inducted into the Michigan State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. After his playing career, he received a Doctorate of Chiropractic from Cleveland Chiropractic College in 1979. His civic awards include the 1966 Big Brothers of America “Big Brother of the Year” Award and the 1981 Spinal Column Stressology Research Society Special Achievement Award. Jones currently owns Jones Chiropractic Wellness and Sports Rehabilitation Center in Lake Balboa, Calif.

Jones becomes the eighth Spartan to be inducted, joining Don Coleman (1949-51), John Pingel (1936-38), Bubba Smith (1964-66), Percy Snow (1986-89), Brad Van Pelt (1970-72), Gene Washington (1964-66) and George Webster (1964-66). Four coaches with stops in East Lansing are in the Hall: Charlie Bachman (1933-46), Duffy Daugherty (1954-72), Biggie Munn (1947-53) and Muddy Waters (1980-82).

Including the 2015 class, only 963 players and 209 coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame from the nearly 5.12 million people who have played or coached the game over the past 147 years. In other words, only two ten-thousandths of one percent (.0002) of those who have set foot on the gridiron have earned the distinction. Click here for a complete list of players and coaches in the Hall.

The 2015 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the 58^th NFF Annual Awards Dinner, held at New York City’s historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Tuesday, Dec. 8. This year’s College Football Hall of Fame Class includes: Trev Alberts (Nebraska), Brian Bosworth (Oklahoma), Bob Breunig (Arizona State), Sean Brewer (Millsaps [Miss.]), Ruben Brown (Pittsburgh), Wes Chandler (Florida), Thom Gatewood (Notre Dame), Dick Jauron (Yale), Clinton Jones (Michigan State), Lincoln Kennedy (Washington), the late Rob Lytle (Michigan), Michael Payton (Marshall), Art Still (Kentucky), Zach Thomas (Texas Tech), Ricky Williams (Texas) and coaches Bill Snyder (Kansas State) and Jim Tressel (Youngstown State, Ohio State). For more information, please contact Will Rudd at wrudd@footballfoundation.com or by calling 972.556.1000.

Remaining Scheduled 2015 NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes
Presented by Fidelity Investments
(Chronological Order)

The 2015 season marks the sixth season that Fidelity Investments, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans to higher education employees, is serving as the national presenting sponsor of the NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salutes. The salutes are one component of a multi-year initiative between the two organizations to celebrate the scholar-athlete ideal and a joint commitment to higher education. At the start of the 2014 season, Fidelity became the presenting sponsor of the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award, which will be presented for the 26^th time in 2015. Other highlights of the sponsorship include Fidelity becoming the first presenting sponsor of the organization’s prestigious NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards and helping launch the NFF Faculty Salutes Initiative, which recognizes the contributions of the faculty athletics representatives around the country.


About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity’s goal is to make financial expertise broadly accessible and effective in helping people live the lives they want. With assets under administration of $5.3 trillion, including managed assets of $2.1 trillion as of July 31, 2015, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a diverse set of customers: helping more than 24 million people invest their own life savings, nearly 20,000 businesses manage employee benefit programs, as well as providing nearly 10,000 advisory firms with technology solutions to invest their own clients’ money. Privately held for nearly 70 years, Fidelity employs 42,000 associates who are focused on the long-term success of our customers. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about.

About The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 120 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include FootballMatters.org, the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, The William V. Campbell Trophy presented by Fidelity Investments, annual scholarships of more than $1.3 million and a series of initiatives to honor the legends of the past and inspire the leaders of the future. NFF corporate partners include the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Fidelity Investments, Herff Jones, New York Athletic Club, Pasadena Tournament of Roses, PrimeSport, SKP, the Sports Business Journal and Under Armour. Learn more at www.footballfoundation.org.