Charlie Jones Dead at 77

Just a week after the passing of Jim McKay, another sportscasting legend has died.

Charlie Jones (the guy on the right in the picture) died of a heart attack on Thursday at the age of 77. Jones was the commentator for all kinds of sports that ranged from football to baseball to golf to tennis to the Olympics and even the FIFA World Cup.

He was the voice of the Cincinnati Reds and the Colorado Rockies for short periods of time, and was one of the lead NFL playoff commentators for NBC.

His perhaps most famous game was in 1993, when the Houston Oilers and the Buffalo Bills squared off in what turned out to be the greatest comeback in the history of the NFL. Jones worked that game with Todd Christensen for NBC, during his final years with the network.

His other notable game was the 1986 Fiesta Bowl, when Penn State shocked Jimmy Johnson’s Miami team to win what still stands as PSU’s last national championship.

Certainly I’m glad I had the pleasure of listening to Jones in many NFL games that are replayed and near the end of his career, and his deep-voice and great command of the game was incredible. One of the more underrated announcers of our time, and he will be missed.

I will leave you with the only video I could find of him on Youtube, which was the first ever playoff game for the Seattle Seahawks, when he was with Bob Griese at the Kingdome after the jump.