Charlie Jones, one of the last original voices of the NFL, died of a heart attack on Thursday. He was 77.
Best known for his NFL on NBC coverage, Jones broadcasted football for over 35 years, starting with ABC’s AFL broadcasts in 1961 and finishing when NBC stopped airing NFL games in 1997.
He was never the star of NBC Sports, like Curt Gowdy, Dick Enberg or Marv Albert were, but he did broadcast his share of memorable games: the Buffalo/Cleveland duel in the 1990 playoffs, the Bills comeback against the Oilersin 1993 and the Oilers/Broncos game in 1992, best remembered for Elway's last minute drive down the field, sometimes called The Drive II.
In all, he broadcasted games for NBC from 1965 to 1997 – likely making him the longest serving member of any network’s NFL coverage.
Besides the NFL, Jones also broadcasted the 1986 World Cup, the 1987 Fiesta Bowl and parts of three summer Olympic Games – the !988 Olympics is Seoul, the 1992 Olympics in Barcalona and the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.