Homer Jones dies, former Giants receiver who invented touchdown spike was 82
Giants receiver Homer Jones wraps his big hands around a football during a workout at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 24, 1967. Credit: AP
The Giants’ go-to celebration in the early 1960s was to fling the football into the stands after scoring touchdowns. That’s what future Hall of Famer Frank Gifford and Alex Webster would routinely do whenever they would find the end zone. The NFL and commissioner Pete Rozelle quickly clamped down on that act, however, and started fining players $50 for each pigskin they turned into a souvenir.
So when Homer Jones scored a touchdown against the Eagles on Oct. 17, 1965, at Yankee Stadium, he did something different.
“I was fixing to throw it into the grandstand,” Jones said in an ESPN interview in 2015, “but just as I was raising my arm, the reality snapped into my head. Mr. 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 grass. Folks got excited, and I did it for the rest of my career.”
The touchdown spike was born.
Jones, who not only invented that now ubiquitous act but also etched his name in the Giants’ and NFL’s record books as a wide receiver despite playing a relatively short career in an era when passing still was a secondary offensive strategy, died on Wednesday. He was 82 and had lung cancer.
His daughter, Lacarroll Jones Nickelberry, confirmed his death to KLTV in Pittsburg, Texas, where Jones was born and lived.
“Homer Jones had a unique combination of speed and power and was a threat to score whenever he touched the ball,” said John Mara, co-owner of the Giants. He said because of that touchdown spike, which became his calling card, Jones “quickly became a fan favorite. I remember him as an easygoing, friendly individual who was well liked by his teammates and coaches.”
Jones was a member of the Giants from 1964-1969, and was named to the Pro Bowl in 1967 and 1968. In 1967 he posted a career-high 49 catches, 1,209 yards and 24.7 yards per reception. His 214 career receptions rank 25th among Giants, but his 4,845 receiving yards and 35 receiving touchdowns both rank sixth.
Jones’ 22.26-yard average per reception remains the highest in NFL history for receivers with at least 200 catches.
On Dec. 13, 1965, Jones caught three passes for 182 yards, including touchdowns of 72 and 74 yards, in a 27-10 Giants victory in Washington. His 60.67 yards-per-catch average in the game is tied with Bill Groman (who had the same totals for Houston vs. Denver on Nov. 20, 1960) for the second-highest average in league history (with a minimum of three receptions). Only Torry Holt of the St. Louis Rams did better when he averaged 63 yards (three catches for 189 yards) vs. Atlanta on Sept. 24, 2000.
The Giants selected Jones in the 20th round of the 1963 NFL Draft, although he had already signed with the Houston Oilers of the American Football League at the time. According to the Giants’ website, the Oilers released Jones after he injured his knee in his rookie training camp. He called the Giants to ask if they would be interested in giving him a tryout and they sent him a bus ticket to New York. After watching Jones run — he had posted a 9.3-second 100-yard dash at Texas Southern — coach Allie Sherman placed him on the Giants' taxi squad, that era's version of the practice squad, for the entire 1963 season and part of 1964.
In January 1970, Jones was traded to the Browns. Knee injuries limited him to 10 receptions that season and he soon retired at age 29, but his debut with Cleveland was the first Monday night game in history and Jones made the biggest play in the Browns' 31-21 victory over the Jets when he returned the second-half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown.
Nickelberry told KLTV that Jones is survived by six children and that funeral arrangements are pending.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
