Homer Jones (American football)
| Date of birth | February 18, 1941 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Pittsburg, Texas |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Wide receiver |
| College | Texas Southern |
| NFL draft | 1963 / Round: 20 / Pick: 278 |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1964–1969 | New York Giants |
| 1970 | Cleveland Browns |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Pro Bowls | 2 |
| Career stats | |
|
|
Homer Carroll Jones (born February 18, 1941 in Pittsburg, Texas) is a former American football wide receiver, who played for the National Football League's New York Giants from 1964 to 1969, and for the Cleveland Browns in 1970.
Six-foot-two and weighing 220 pounds, Jones was a cousin of Hall of Fame receiver Charley Taylor of the Washington Redskins and Browns' defensive end Joe Jones.
Jones attended Texas Southern College (now Texas Southern University), a historically black college, and starred in track and field as well as football, running the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes. He was drafted in 1963 by his hometown team, the Houston Oilers of the American Football League, but suffered a knee injury in training camp and was cut.
The Giants offered Jones a bus ticket to New York and payment for knee surgery. Known as "Rhino" to his teammates, he wore uniform number 45 in New York. Having seen players such as Giant teammate Frank Gifford and Green Bay Packers star Paul Hornung celebrate touchdowns by throwing the ball to fans in the stands, Jones decided to come up with his own post-touchdown maneuver. In a 1965 game, he scored a touchdown and threw the football down hard into the end zone. He called the move a "spike", and modern post-touchdown celebrations, including "touchdown dances", are said to have evolved from Jones' invention of spiking the ball.
...
Wikipedia