Homer Jones, one of the most prolific wide receivers in New York Giants history and believed to be the first player to spike a football after a touchdown, has died. He was 82.
Homer Jones’s cause of death: How did Homer Jones die?
The Giants acknowledged the death, saying his daughter, Lacarroll Jones Nickelberry, confirmed it to KLTV in Pittsburg, Texas, where Jones was born and lived. His daughter said he died Wednesday following a battle with lung cancer.
Jones’s career was brief: seven seasons, including his final one, mostly as a kick returner, with the Cleveland Browns. But between 1965 and 1969, playing with Giant teams that were mediocre or worse, he was among the most feared pass catchers in the National Football League.
Jones was not always sure-handed, but he was a big-play specialist, more than half of whose 36 career touchdowns went for 50 yards or more, including 10 of at least 70 yards. His 98-yard reception of a bomb from quarterback Earl Morrall in 1966 was the longest for a Giant until Victor Cruz scored on a 99-yarder in 2011.
