![]() ![]() Folks got excited, and I did it for the rest of my career." So I just threw the ball down into the end zone, into the grass. "But just as I was raising my arm, the reality snapped into my head. "I was fixing to throw it into the grandstand," Jones said in a 2015 story. ![]() Jones' move became known as "The Spike," and has become a standard celebration across football ever since. In 1967 Jones led the NFL w/ 13 TDs #TogetherBlue /SOcAtVWDNU- BigBlueVCR June 14, 2023Īfter scoring an 89-yard touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles, Jones remembered the fine just as he was about to throw the ball into the stands, and instead threw it hard into the ground. Not wanting a fine for throwing the ball in the stands, Jones invented the spike on this 89 yard TD vs Eagles. A collegiate sprinter, Jones joined #NYGiants in 1964 & made NFL history in 1965. Jones would also make the Pro Bowl in 1968.įor 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. Jones would have the best season of his career in 1967, catching 49 passes for 1,209 yards (averaging 24.7 yards per catch) and a league-leading 13 touchdowns on his way to his first Pro Bowl. Inheriting a Giants team that had gone 1-12-1 the year before, Tarkenton quickly identified Jones as his best playmaker, even betting Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith $10 that Jones could outrun Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver "Bullet" Bob Hayes in a footrace. Jones became known for his exceptional speed in New York, and he would enjoy his greatest success 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. He would subsequently land with the New York Giants, who offered Jones a plane ticket to New York and payment for his knee surgery. Jones, however, would be cut by the Oilers after suffering a knee injury in training camp. Jones' passing was confirmed by his daughter Lacorral Jones Nickelberry to KLTV in Pittsburg, Texas.Ī native of Pittsburg in East Texas, Jones ran track and field and played college football at Texas Southern before being selected by the Houston Oilers in the 20th round of the 1963 AFL Draft. Homer Jones, a former NFL wide receiver who made two Pro Bowls as a member of the New York Giants, died Wednesday morning at the age of 82 after battling lung cancer.
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