Deacon Jones - College Career

College Career

Jones' college football career consisted of a year at South Carolina State University in 1957, followed by a year of inactivity in 1958 and a final season at Mississippi Vocational College (since renamed Mississippi Valley State University) in 1960.

South Carolina State revoked Jones' scholarship after they learned that he was a part of a civil rights movement. However, one of the assistant football coaches at South Carolina State was leaving to coach at Mississippi Vocational and told Jones and some of the other black players that he could get them scholarships at the new school. While he was playing at Mississippi Vocational, he and his black teammates had to sleep in cots in the opposing team's gym because motels wouldn’t take them on numerous occasions.