Homer Jones former Pro Bowl wide receiver for New York Giants and inventor of NF

lovelystyle

Homer Jones, a former wide receiver who made two Pro Bowls as a member of the , died Wednesday morning at the age of 82 after battling lung cancer. Jones' pa sing was confirmed by his daughter Lacorral Jones Nickelberry A native of Pittsburg in East Texas, Jones ran track and field and played at Quinton Jefferson Jersey  Texas Southern before being selected by the Houston Oilers in the 20th round of the 1963 AFL Draft. Jones, however, would be cut by the Oilers after suffering a knee injury in training camp. He would subsequently land with the New York Giants,.Jones became known for his exceptional speed in New York, and he would enjoy his greatest succe s in the late 1960s when he emerged as a favorite target of Fran Tarkenton upon the Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback's trade to the Giants in 1967. Inheriting a Giants team that had gone 1-12-1 the year before, Tarkenton quickly identified Jones as his best playmaker, that Jones could outrun Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver "Bullet" Bob Hayes in a footrace. As legend goes, Jones won.Jones would have the best season of his career in 1967, catching 49 pa ses for 1,209 yards (averaging 24.7 yards per catch) and a league-leading 13 touchdowns on his way to his first Pro Rasheem Green Jersey  Bowl. Jones would also make the Pro Bowl in 1968.For all his production as the Giants' star receiver, Jones' lasting impact on football would end up coming through an innovation in touchdown celebrations: At the time, the NFL had clamped down on players celebrating touchdowns by throwing the ball into the grandstands, imposing a $50 fine for any player who did so, beginning in 1965.  RIP Homer Jones at age 82. A collegiate Marquise Blair Jersey  sprinter, Jones joined in 1964 & made NFL history in 1965. Not wanting a fine for throwing the ball in the stands, Jones invented the spike on this 89 yard TD vs Eagles. In 1967 Jones led the NFL w/ 13 TDs  BigBlueVCR (@BigBlueVCR)  After scoring an 89-yard touchdown against the , Jones remembered the fine just as he was about to throw the ball into the stands, and instead threw it hard into the ground. Jones' move became known as "The Spike," and has become a standard celebration acro s football ever since."I was fixing to throw it into the grandstand," . "But just as I was raising my arm, the reality snapped into my head. Mr. Pete Rozelle would have fined me. That was a lot of money in those days. So I just threw the ball down into the end zone, into the gra s. Folks got excited, and I did  Jason Myers Jersey it for the rest of my career."Jones would be traded to the following the 1969 season, and he would make an immediate impre sion in his first game by returning the second-half kickoff for a touchdown against the during the very  Chris Carson Jersey first "Monday Night Football" broadcast. However, injuries would catch up to Jones and he would retire after being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1971.Jones finished his NFL career with 224 receptions for 4,986 yards and 36 touchdowns, 28 of which came during a three-year stretch of 1,000+ yard seasons from 1966 to 1968. He is also credited with 17 rushing attempts for 146 yards and a touchdown as well as 888 kick return yards with a touchdown.Jones, who lived in his native Pittsburg at the time of his pa sing, is survived by his six children.
Click here Click here Click here