Mike Jones sets up camp in the Bahamas
By Maurice Scott
For the American
Back in 1995, the lovely Georgia Frontiere moved her Los Angeles Rams’ franchise to the Gateway City and re-named them the St. Louis Rams.
In 1999, Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, Orlando Pace and a linebacker from the University of Missouri named Mike Jones propelled Frontiere onto the winning stand at the Georgia Dome after the Rams’ 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. The game ended when #52 stopped Titan WR Kevin Dyson at the Rams 1-yard line on the final play of the game. The rest is history.
However, history might have been made again with the Rams and the Mike Jones Foundation.
The Mike Jones Foundation, with the help of the St. Louis Rams, has continued to serve local youth in the community through its football camps and other life-skills events. The Rams part in all of this started with the friendship between Jones and the late attorney and business executive Edward St. George. St. George was a member of the St. Louis Rams Honorary Advisory Board, which includes the likes of East St. Louisian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Bill Cosby, Eric Dickerson and U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
St. George met Jones during a business meeting at Rams Park and grew fond of the work his foundation was doing here and in Kansas City. St. George thought the youth where he lived could benefit from Jones’ football camps, life skills and conflict resolution.
For those of you who haven’t heard of St. George, he was “The Man.” He got things done legally and peacefully on a small island in Freeport News, Bahamas. (The tiny island is known for Olympic 100m runner Chandra “Golden Girl” Sturrup.) Some say St. George was a key figure in helping Frontiere bring the Rams to St. Louis.
When St. George passed, Jones didn’t want to let his dream die. “This was a dream that Mr. Edward St. George wanted for the young people of Grand Bahama,” Jones said of setting up his football camp there.
“The kids didn’t understand how serious I was at first about them learning. They didn’t know all the strategy and discipline it takes to play this game. They thought you just line up, run and then tackle somebody,” Jones said.
“But, in their defense, football is not the game on their island. Track & field and basketball are what the kids understand and relate to better. Hopefully, through the hard work that the people who went with me and spent their personal time to make a difference – hopefully, it will help someone.”
Trust me, the Mike Jones Foundation has made a difference in many young lives in East St. Louis, St. Louis, Kansas City and now the Bahamas.
