By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Both a curse and a blessing, Ron Francis was a do-it-all athlete that "could have played any position with a little bit of practice."

As a blue-chip running back out of a growing high school powerhouse at La Marque, Francis always felt like his natural position was running back. But, even during his prep days, he played running back, quarterback, wingback and safety.

"I played running back my senior year, so I assumed I was recruited as a running back," Francis said. "But once I got to Baylor, it was more like an athlete. . . . For me, I think it was more of a detriment, because I think my natural position was running back and I would have fared better as a running back than as a defensive back."

Maybe so, but Francis was good enough as a cornerback to be named the Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year by the Dallas Morning News in 1985, earn unanimous first-team All-SWC honors twice (1985-86) and be picked in the second round by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1987 NFL Draft.

And now, 31 years after he finished his collegiate career, Ron Francis is joining his younger brother, James Francis, in the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame. An All-American linebacker in 1989, James was inducted in 2001.

"My wife kept telling me it would happen one day. It took 30 years, but I'm still happy," Ron said. "When Walter (Abercrombie) initially called me, I thought it was about the Legends, because he had mentioned that that might happen for me. And then, once he called me and said I had been elected to the Hall of Fame, I didn't hear anything else he said. I was just so excited."

In 1982, as one of just two Baylor freshmen to play that season, Francis played all 11 games and started four after moving from running back to cornerback for the first time. He made 14 solo tackles, nine assists and broke up six passes.

"I was just more surprised that they moved me, but it was more out of necessity when Coach (Grant) Teaff asked me to move," he said. "But, I wasn't surprised I was able to play my freshman year."

After sitting out the next year with an injury, Francis got his chance at running back and strung together three straight 100-yard games as a redshirt sophomore before suffering a pulled hamstring in the sixth game that year at SMU. He still finished as the team's leading rusher with 558 yards and five touchdowns on just 127 carries.

Switched back to defense for his last two seasons, Francis had a league-best six interceptions with 12 pass breakups in earning All-SWC and honorable mention All-America honors as a junior for a 9-3 team that beat LSU in the Liberty Bowl. He also helped the Bears rank third nationally in passing defense, allowing just 117.2 yards per game and a 43.4 completion percentage.

Then, he put together an even better senior season with eight picks, 11 breakups and two fumble recoveries for a defense that ranked third nationally. Thirty years later, he still ranks fourth in program history with 14 career interceptions and seventh with 29 breakups.

Taken in the second round with the 38th pick overall, Francis said it was "kind of surreal" being drafted by Dallas, "because I grew up watching the Cowboys on TV and my parents were big Cowboy fans."

In 1987, he was the first rookie in six years to open the season as a starter. He played in 11 games that season, intercepting two passes and returning one for a touchdown.

The next year, he dislocated his shoulder in a preseason game and lost his starting job to former Baylor teammate Robert Williams.

"I think for me, that injury took away some of my aggressiveness, the way I used to play," said Francis, who played four seasons with the Cowboys and two more years in the Canadian Football League with the Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions. "I think I started to play more not to get hurt than playing the way I used to play."

Walking away from the game following the 1992 season was tough, he said, "but once I left Canada, that was it for me, just from the aspect that I couldn't stay healthy all the time. I felt like I was getting little nicks all the time."

After pro football, "I took a little time to myself, just to gather myself and kind of figure out what I wanted to do," he said.

For the last 13 years, Francis has worked with Chicago Bridge & Iron and currently serves as supervisor at a manufacturing plant in Pasadena, Texas.

"It's been a blessing to me, that's all I can say. And I'm healthy, that's all I can ask for," he said.

Ron and his wife, Regina, have three grown children: Roniesha, 32; Ronald, 27; and Rhian, 26.

Joining him in the 2017 Hall of Fame class are former NCAA tennis champion Benjamin Becker, Steffanie Blackmon off the 2005 women's basketball national championship team, former football player and assistant coach Bill Hicks, women's golfer Melanie Hagewood-Willhite and track stars Bill Payne, Jeff Jackson and Jennifer Jordan Washington.

Tickets to the Hall of Fame Banquet, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, in the Brazos Room at the Waco Convention Center, are $50 per person and may be purchased by contacting the "B" Association at 254-710-3045 or by email at tammy_hardin@baylor.edu. Table sponsorships (seating for eight) are also available for $750 (individual) or $1,000 (corporate).