The Miracle Man No Ordinary Jones

Ohio State’s tight end is Miracle Man Jones. That’s the name teammates gave him, because it isn’t every Big Ten football star who sat out the entire previous season after open-heart surgery.

D.J. Jones is a 6-foot-4, 260-pound senior from Lebanon, Ohio, who was a starter for the Buckeyes in 1994 and also started every game of 1996.

In between, Jones coughed up blood at a practice before the 1995 Citrus Bowl, and felt severe chest pain. He was diagnosed with histoplasmosis. The sac around his heart hardened. Doctors had to crack Jones’ sternum while performing open-heart surgery in June 1995.

“They diagnosed me at first with pleurisy,” Jones said before Ohio State’s workout Saturday morning in Costa Mesa. “I prepared myself for the worst. So, when they prepared me, I was able to deal with it.”

Jones, 22, was cleared to resume practice last spring.

“The doctors never came out and said, ‘You’re never going to be able to play again.’ But I didn’t worry about it,” he said. “I have a long life to lead after football.”

Teammates gave him the Miracle Man tag when the season began. Although he caught only 10 passes, Jones blocked ably, and had his proudest moment Sept. 28, catching a 13-yard pass from Stanley Jackson in a 29-16 victory at South Bend, Ind. Talk about your miracles. “My first touchdown catch,” Jones said, “and where do I get it? At Notre Dame.”

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Walt Harris, who coaches John Cooper’s quarterbacks, was asked if Cooper’s plan for Wednesday’s game is to alternate Stanley Jackson and Joe Germaine at quarterback, as he has done in the past.

“Yes,” Harris answered, “unless John decides he doesn’t want to.”

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Cooper was asked how much action Michael Wiley, a freshman flanker and halfback from Spring Valley, Calif., could expect to see in the Rose Bowl.

“Michael Wiley, Michael Wiley, everybody wants me to play Michael Wiley,” Cooper replied with a smile. “Hey, we got Pepe Pearson back there. Remember him?”

Pearson was the nation’s 11th-leading rusher.