I used to think Baltimore Colts quarterback Bert Jones was one of the biggest stars in the National Football League. That is, I assumed he was. After all, he was in all those ads, like the Ivory soap spots:
For a while, I thought he was massively overrated, but that view is as ignorant as thinking that after a practice, Jones uses a deodorant soap. "No way!"
In reality, Jones had a storied career at LSU and is in the College Football Hall of fame, but was not on the elite tier of QBs in the pros. He was the NFL MVP in 1976, but injuries limited his career. He led the Colts to a solid run in the mid 70s, but that was overshadowed by the likes of the Steelers and the Raiders.
He was a star but not a superstar, maybe, but he was a national figure with this ad campaign. He also did a print campaign for Chaps by Ralph Lauren, but according to an interview with Jones himself, he only did this one TV spot. I would have sworn he was in a bunch of these. Did I just see this one a thousand times?
One of my favorite aspects of this particular commercial is that Jones, then gearing up for a final season with the L.A. Rams, wears a generic #7 jersey with "BERT JONES" on the front. Or IS it generic?
Maybe Bert Jones is playing for the Louisiana Bert Joneses. I'd love to get a look at the back of his jersey because I hope it says "BERT JONES" on the back, too. "And at quarterback for your Bert Joneses...number 7...Bert Jones!"
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