RIP, Homer Jones, inventor of the "Spike", and the all-time leader in YPC.

[Kingspoint]

His yards per reception (22.3) total ranks #1 in NFL history among players with at least 200 career receptions.

In the Brown's first game (and Jones' 1st with the Browns) of the 1970 NFL season on September 21, 1970, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Jones returned the second-half kickoff against the New York Jets for a touchdown, a key play in the Browns' 31-21 win over the Jets in front of 85,703 fans. The crowd, officially the largest crowd in Browns' history, was a part of NFL history that evening in the first game played on ABC's Monday Night Football.

However, that touchdown would be the highlight of his one season with the Browns as knee injuries soon caught up with Jones. Soon after being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in July 1971, he was forced to retire at age 29.

In 1967, Jones had his best season, catching 49 passes for 1,209 yards, an average of 24.7 yards per catch, and 13 touchdowns, leading the NFL in receiving touchdowns. He was second in the league in combined rushing and receiving yards from scrimmage, behind Leroy Kelly of the Browns. He made the NFL's Pro Bowl that season and the next.

A new rule for 1965 would fine a player $500 if he threw a ball into the stands. Jones said the fine occurred to him, so he decided to throw the ball on the ground instead. Frank Gifford and Green Bay Packers star Paul Hornung celebrated touchdowns by throwing the ball at opposing fans in the stands.

Jones said the fine occurred to him, so he decided to throw the ball on the ground instead. He called the move a "spike". Modern post-touchdown celebrations, including "touchdown dances", are said to have come from Jones' invention.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_...ican_football)




Fran Tarkenton claimed that he was faster than Dallas Cowboys great "Bullet" Bob Hayes.

[Roy Tucker]

RIP Homer

I remember that Sept 21 1970 game well. A young Roy had just started his freshman year at Ohio University a couple weeks before (we were on the quarters schedule then). I lived in Sargent Hall on the West Green. Hard to believe now, but there was only one TV set in the whole dorm. It was in the main lounge room. No cable, just pulled in 3 VHF channels of snowy signals from Columbus OH and Huntington WV. Streaming internet was decades away. The big room was jammed with Browns fans and I remember when Jones returned that kickoff, the place went nuts.

[Chip R]

Technically, Jones was not the first person to spike the ball. Ronald Reagan playing George Gipp in Knute Rockne All American did it in 1940. He scored a TD and bounced the ball off the ground and caught it.