Bert Jones Bertram Hays " Bert " Jones ( born September 7 , 1951 ) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League ( NFL ) for the Baltimore Colts and the Los Angeles Rams . At Ruston High School in Ruston , Louisiana , he was given the nickname , " The Ruston Rifle " . Jones played college football at Louisiana State University ( LSU ) . He is the son of former NFL running back Dub Jones of the Cleveland Browns . College . Jones went to the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge , where he played for LSU ' s football team . He was also a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity ( " Gamma " chapter ) . While at LSU , Jones only started two games prior to the end of his junior year , but he started every game after that , leading LSU to a 12 - 2 - 1 record . During his senior year ( 1972 ) , LSU went 9 - 2 - 1 . Except for one week , LSU spent that entire season ranked in the AP Top 10 . That year , Jones became the first quarterback in LSU history to be awarded consensus All - American honors . Jones also finished 4th in the vote for the Heisman Trophy and was voted the National Collegiate Player of the Year by the Cleveland Touchdown Club . One of Bert Jones ' most famous moments came in the 1972 LSU - Ole Miss game , when he led LSU to a 17 - 16 last - second victory by hitting RB Brad Davis in the end zone for a touchdown as time expired . To this day , many believe that a clock malfunction on the previous play gave four seconds for Jones to complete the game winning touchdown pass for LSU . Jones ' s other major victories included # 14 LSU ' s 28 - 8 victory over # 7 Notre Dame in 1971 ( televised by ABC ) and # 8 LSU ' s 35 - 7 victory over # 9 Auburn in 1972 . During his 17 games at LSU , Bert Jones completed 52 . 6 percent of his passes for 3 , 225 yards and 28 touchdowns , which at the time was the most career passing yards and touchdowns of any quarterback in LSU history . In 1971 , Jones threw for 945 yards with 9 TD vs 4 INT while splitting time with Paul Lyons . Lyons himself would throw for over 800 yards and 11 TD that year . In 1972 after taking over command at QB , Jones threw for 1 , 446 yards with 14 TD vs 7 INT on 199 pass attempts . Against the wishes of LSU fans , Jones was forced to share quarterback duties with Lyons because of Jones ' bickering with head coach Charlie McClendon over signal calling . NFL . In 1973 , Jones was chosen in the first round ( 2nd overall ) of the NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts to be the Colts ' heir apparent to Johnny Unitas , who was later traded to San Diego . His debut came on September 16 , 1973 in a loss to the Cleveland Browns . During his eight - year tenure as the Colts ' starting QB , Jones and his teammates enjoyed three consecutive AFC East division titles ( 1975 – 77 ) . But in each of those years , the Colts lost in the first round of the playoffs . The 1977 playoff game ( known as Ghost to the Post ) is famous as the 4th longest game in NFL history ; the Colts fell to the Oakland Raiders , 37 - 31 . The Colts ' fortunes seemed to rise and fall with Jones ; he missed most of 1978 and 1979 with a shoulder injury , and the Colts fell to last place in the AFC East those two seasons . The 1976 regular season was Bert Jones ' s finest as a professional : he threw for 3 , 104 yards and a career - high 24 touchdown s , compiling a passer rating of 102 . 5 . He was one of only three quarterbacks to achieve a 100 + passer rating during the entire decade of the 1970s , joining Dallas ' Roger Staubach ( 1971 ) and Oakland ' s Ken Stabler ( 1976 ) . Jones was thus honored by the Associated Press as 1976 ' s NFL Most Valuable Player and NFL Offensive Player of the Year , selected All - Pro and named to the Pro Bowl team . He was also selected 2nd Team All - Pro following the 1977 season . During an October 26 , 1980 game against the St . Louis Cardinals , Jones made NFL history when he was sacked a record 12 times . This broke the record at the time held by many quarterbacks , including Jones ' then back - up , Greg Landry , who had been sacked 11 times while he was a member of the Detroit Lions in a game against the Dallas Cowboys on October 6 , 1975 . In 1982 , his final season , he played in only four games for the Los Angeles Rams before a neck injury ( OPLL ) forced him to retire . In 1990 , Jones participated in the first NFL QB challenge . He finished first in the retiree category and third in the regular competition . ( The regular competition taking the top three finishers from the alumni competition and adding them to the regular field of current QBs . ) Given his strong performance , Bobby Beathard , then the GM of the Chargers , wanted Jones to come out of retirement , but Bert was 39 at the time and chose not to try a comeback . The widely respected scout Ernie Accorsi is quoted as saying that if Bert Jones had played under different circumstances , he probably would have been the greatest player ever . John Riggins has been quoted as saying Bert was the toughest competitor he has ever witnessed . On the eve of Super Bowl XLII New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick , in discussing his choices for the greatest quarterbacks of all time , described Jones as the best " pure passer " he ever saw . Later years . Jones now owns and operates a wood treatment facility about fifteen miles ( 24 km ) from his home in Simsboro , also in Lincoln Parish west of Ruston . Jones once hosted " Suzuki ' s Great Outdoors " on the ESPN network . He invited his friend Grits Gresham to appear on three episodes of the series , and Gresham hosted Jones on two episodes of his own " The American Sportsman " on ABC . Jones is a former appointee to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission and is active in environmental and outdoors activities .