Jones was selected in the sixth round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams and played one season for the Cleveland Browns.
[6] He broke the conference single-season rushing record of 1,624 yards set by Victor Breakfield of Omaha Burke in 1981.
[16] Jones chose to play college football locally for the Nebraska Cornhuskers over the Washington Huskies.
[5][17] He loved the mountains and waters around Seattle, but it was easier to have his family at games by attending the University of Nebraska–Lincoln,[5] He joined his brother Lee, who was already playing for the Huskers.
[3] Jones was not expecting to play on the varsity team as a freshman, feeling that he was not physically prepared after arriving at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and 176 pounds (80 kg).
[10] However, he lettered that season after being promoted to varsity following Paul Miles' season-ending separated shoulder injury against Syracuse.
3 I-back behind Doug DuBose and Jeff Smith, Jones ran for 186 yards on 29 carries for a 6.4-yard average and two touchdowns.
[29] Jones was limited in the 1987 Sugar Bowl by a deep thigh bruise suffered in the first half of the regular season finale against Oklahoma.
[26][28] With Tyreese Knox starting in his place, Jones had six rushes for 20 yards as a reserve in a 30–15 win over LSU.
3 at the time in school history with 2,488 career rushing yards,[b] passing Rick Berns (2,449) and Roger Craig (2,446) to finish behind Mike Rozier (4,780) and I. M. Hipp (2,814).
[38] Jones was electronically timed at 4.33 seconds in the 40-yard dash in 1985, which broke the record for Cornhusker football players, previously held by Irving Fryar (4.43).
Jones said that around his senior year, football coach Tom Osborne told him to quit track.
[5] Jones was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the sixth round of the 1988 NFL draft with the 147th overall pick.
[2] He joined a Rams team that had two 1,000-yard rushers, Charles White and Greg Bell, and first-round pick Gaston Green.