Donald Walter Jonas (born December 3, 1938) is an American former football player and coach.
Both minor-league teams and the CFL offered Jonas playing time and competitive money.
His career minor league stats were 1032 completions in 2085 attempts for 17,183 yards and 171 TDs and 130 interceptions, with 4 MVP awards.
In 1967, the American Football League’s Denver Broncos, under Lou Saban, offered him a contract, but Jonas declined the opportunity; Orlando, then paying quite high salaries for a minor league team, also offered Jonas a virtual guarantee of playing time with a winning franchise, something he could not be assured as a backup on the only team in the AFL that up to that point had been a perennial loser.
Jonas’ first season in the Canadian Football League, 1970, was with the Toronto Argonauts, where he was teamed up with Tom Wilkinson.
Moving to the Western Division with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1971, he hit 253 of 485 passes for a stunning 4036 yards with 27 TDs and 31 interceptions.
At the time Jonas coached, the Knights competed at the NCAA Division III level.