Cal Jones Calvin Jack Jones ( February 7 , 1933 – December 9 , 1956 ) was a college football player for the University of Iowa . Jones is one of only two Iowa football players ( along with Nile Kinnick ) to have his jersey number retired by the school . Jones became the first Hawkeye , and the first African - American , to win the Outland Trophy in 1955 . He played one year with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Western Interprovincial Football Union . He died in a plane crash after playing in the East – West All - Star Game on the way to watch the 1957 Rose Bowl . Cal Jones is a member of The Pigskin Club Of Washington , D . C . National Intercollegiate All - American Football Players Honor Roll . Youth and recruitment . Cal Jones was born on the south side of Steubenville , Ohio , the youngest of seven children . His father died when Jones was about one year old . His mother , Talitha Jones , raised Jones and his six older siblings during the Great Depression and World War II . Jones began playing organized football in the fifth grade . By the time they neared the end of their time at Steubenville High School , Jones and his two friends , Eddie Vincent and Frank Gilliam , were being courted by college football programs . Ohio State and their legendary coach , Woody Hayes , offered a scholarship only to Cal Jones . Jones committed to play at Ohio State , while Vincent and Gilliam accepted scholarships to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes . Before the fall of 1952 , Vincent and Gilliam drove to Jones ' s house to say goodbye before leaving for Iowa . Jones shocked his friends when he said , " Wait a minute . . . I ' m coming with you . " Jones ran upstairs , packed a bag , and rode to Iowa City with Vincent and Gilliam . Jones ' sudden switch from Ohio State to conference rival Iowa caused Big Ten commissioner Tug Wilson to conduct a personal investigation . Iowa was cleared of any wrongdoing . When questioned , Cal Jones reportedly told Wilson , " I ' ll tell you why I came out here . They treated me like a white man , and I like it here . I ' m going to stay . " Playing career . The " Steubenville Trio " ( as Jones , Vincent , and Gilliam were called ) arrived with Iowa football in bad shape . Iowa had had only one winning season in the previous ten years . Cal Jones was a dominant figure on the field from 1953 to 1955 . In 1953 , Iowa finished the year ranked 9th in the final AP Poll , Iowa ' s best finish since the Ironmen in 1939 . Jones was named as a first team All - American . In 1954 , Iowa again had a winning season . Jones was named as a consensus first team All - America n , despite playing the entire year with a broken wrist . Jones broke it in practice before Iowa ' s first game but kept the injury concealed from the fans and media all year . That season , Jones also became the first college football player to be featured on the cover of the September 27 , 1954 issue of " Sports Illustrated " magazine , which shows a tightly cropped slightly blurry image of Jones face wearing a football helmet . This was the 7th issue of " Sports Illustrated " . In 1955 , Cal Jones was named as Iowa ' s team captain . Though Iowa struggled to a 3 – 5 – 1 record , Jones was named as a consensus first team All - American for the second consecutive year . Cal Jones also won the 1955 Outland Trophy , which goes to the United States ' top lineman . He was the first African - American player to win the prestigious award . Jones also finished tenth in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy , an impressive finish for a lineman . Death . Cal Jones graduated with a 3 . 0 grade point average at Iowa . He was selected in the ninth round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions , but refused to sign with the team as the NFL paid black players less than whites . Instead , he went to Canada and signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Western Interprovincial Football Union ( WIFU ) . As a rookie with Winnipeg in 1956 , Jones was named to the WIFU All - Star Team . The East – West All - Star Game in Vancouver would be Jones ' s final football game . Iowa qualified for the Rose Bowl after the 1956 season . Frank Gilliam had sat out the 1955 season with a broken leg , so Gilliam was playing his final year for the Hawkeyes . Jones was to fly home to Winnipeg , gather a few possessions , and then fly to Pasadena to watch Gilliam in the Rose Bowl after the All - Star game . On December 9 , 1956 , Jones overslept his scheduled morning flight from Vancouver , so he scheduled an afternoon flight to stop at Calgary then travel to Winnipeg . Cal Jones ' flight on Trans - Canada Air Lines Flight 810 , from Vancouver to Calgary crashed at Slesse Mountain ( aka Mount Slesse ) , killing all 62 people aboard , including one football official and four players from the Saskatchewan Roughriders . Gilliam and the rest of the Iowa Hawkeye team heard of Jones ' s death as they prepared for the 1957 Rose Bowl against Oregon State . The team dedicated Iowa ' s first Rose Bowl appearance to Cal ' s memory and won the game , 35 – 19 . The team sent the game ball to Talitha Jones , Cal ' s mother in Steubenville . Honors . Cal Jones is currently the only three - time first team All - America n in Iowa history and was the first African American on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1954 . He is one of only two Iowa players to be named a consensus first team All - American twice ( Larry Station is the other ) . Jones was inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in 1971 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 . In 1989 , Iowa fans selected an all - time University of Iowa football team during the 100th anniversary celebration of Iowa football , and Cal Jones was selected to the team as a lineman . And the University of Iowa retired Cal Jones ' # 62 . Jones is one of only two players so honored – Nile Kinnick ' s # 24 is similarly . The street where Steubenville High School ' s Harding Stadium is located , is named in Calvin Jones ' honor . Personal . Jones ' s grandson , Edwin Harrison , was a National Football League guard on the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs . He currently plays for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League . His search to learn more about the life and death of his grandfather and his family history is at the centre of the 2012 documentary " The Crash of Flight 810 " , part of TSN ' s " Engraved on a Nation " series of eight documentaries celebrating the 100th Grey Cup .