Marvin Jones to be Inducted to College Football Hall of Fame
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Former Florida State linebacker Marvin Jones, who starred for the Seminoles from 1990-92 before an 11-year career in the National Football League, is part of the 2022 National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame Class.
Over his three seasons with the Seminoles, Jones finished with 369 tackles, a mark that still sits seventh in program history. The Coconut Grove, Florida, native tallied at least 110 tackles every season in Tallahassee, with 133 as a freshman, 125, including 13.0 for loss, as a sophomore and 111 as a junior.
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The top defensive player in the nation in 1992, he was named the Sporting News Defensive Player of the Year, won the Butkus Award as top linebacker and won the Lombardi Award for linemen and linebackers. Jones also took home the Jack Lambert Trophy from the Touchdown Club of Columbus, was a unanimous All-American and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting, the highest finish for any Seminole defender.
Jones played a vital role in leading Florida State to three top-four finishes in the Associated Press poll, wrapping his career with a 27-14 win over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl as FSU finished No. 2 in 1992. FSU was 32-5 during his three seasons in Tallahassee.
When Jones was selected fourth overall in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the New York Jets, he became the highest-drafted player in FSU history. Jones played his entire 11-year professional career with the Jets and finished with 1,022 tackles over 142 games before retiring following the 2003 season.
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One of just seven two-time consensus All-Americans in program history, Jones was inducted into the Florida State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000 and his No. 55 jersey was retired prior to Florida State’s win over Miami in 2015.
Jones will be the 10th Seminole inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, joining former teammates Charlie Ward (inducted in 2006), Derrick Brooks (2016) and Terrell Buckley (2019), as well as head coach Bobby Bowden (2006).
Ron Sellers (1988), Fred Biletnikoff (1991), head coach Darrell Mudra (2000), Ron Simmons (2009) and Deion Sanders (2011) are also enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.
*Press release courtesy of Florida State Athletics
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