Discharged By Dolphins, Ex-Lieutenant Earns Praise

MIAMI - When the Miami Dolphins discharged former Army lieutenant Clarence Jones, he took the news like a good soldier.

The rookie running back was waived. Playing football for the first time since his senior season at Army in 1986, Jones made it through only two weeks of training camp.

``I'm really grateful for the opportunity I had to come down here and play and be a part of this organization,'' he said. ``That in itself is an accomplishment, I think.''

Jones, 27, fractured his left middle finger in a scrimmage and was expected to be sidelined at least three weeks. But even before the injury, Coach Don Shula had decided Jones wouldn't make the final roster.

The thing players dread most during camp, a summons to Shula's office, came the other morning.

``He said he would've had to cut me eventually, so instead he was just going to take care of it now and let me get on with my life,'' Jones said. ``He also knew that I was going to go to law school, so he said he'd free me up to do that.''

Many men named Jones have been cut by NFL teams, but this one earned a special kind of admiration from Shula. It's not the coach's habit to praise players he has just released, but his daily briefing included a tribute to Jones.

``He's done a heck of a job,'' Shula said. ``He's quite a story, coming in here after not playing football for four years and giving it the effort that he did. We're pretty proud of the fact that he competed like he did.''

Jones was hurt on a play that was typical of his effort. He was scrambling for a fumble when another player landed on his hand.

As 1st Lt. Jones, he commanded a 40-man artillery platoon in South Korea. When his obligation to the Army was finished, he decided to pursue pro football. Jones wrote all 28 NFL teams, the Dolphins responded, and he signed April 16.

When the 205-pounder reported to training camp, he said he felt bigger, stronger, faster and more mature than he had at Army, where he was a two-year starter for bowl teams and rushed for 1,593 yards.

Jones found training camp less demanding physically than he had expected. And regular sleeping hours were a nice change from the Army. But competition at running back did him in. The Dolphins had 10 candidates at the position, all ``busting their butts'' to make the squad, Shula said.

Offers from other teams are unlikely, and Jones said they would probably want him merely ``to get the veterans ready for the season. I don't want to do that.''

So he'll spend the fall at Notre Dame or Illinois, not because of football but because he's been accepted by those law schools.

``The dream, for what's it worth, has been satisfied,'' he said. ``My thirst for the game and my desire to play again was for the most part filled, and I pushed it as far as it could go.

``I'm not pleased with the result, but I had the opportunity, and that's so much more than a lot of people. I can go on with my life now and not look back.''