Charlie Jones (November 9, 1930 – June 12, 2008) was an American sportscaster for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
.
Early life
Charlie Jones was born in
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...
. He earned an undergraduate degree at the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
, where he was a tennis player, and a law degree at the
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
. He also served two years in the
U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
.
Broadcasting career
American Football League/National Football League
Jones began his sportscasting career at local television and radio stations in Fort Smith, before signing on as a broadcaster for the fledgling
Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to:
American football
*Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League
*Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs
* Dallas Texans (arena), 1990–1993 Arena Football League team ...
of the
American Football League in
1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Jan ...
. Jones also began calling AFL games for
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
that year.
In 1965, he moved to NBC, continuing to broadcast the AFL and later the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
. He would work NFL games until
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
, when NBC lost their NFL (
AFC) broadcasting rights to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. Among Jones' notable broadcasts was in January 1993, when he covered the
Buffalo Bills vs. Houston Oilers Wild Card game, in which the
Bills rallied from a 35–3 second half deficit to defeat the
Oilers
Oiler may refer to:
Ships
* Replenishment oiler
* Tanker (ship)
Sports
* Cape Breton Oilers, a former American Hockey League team
* City Oilers, Ugandan basketball team
* Edmonton Oilers, a National Hockey League team based in Edmonton, Alberta, ...
in overtime 41–38.
Jones was the sideline reporter for NBC for the first
Super Bowl (named the World Championship Game until
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was an American football game played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Su ...
), where he interviewed
Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
at halftime and
Super Bowl IX
Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) cha ...
. He was the radio play-by-play announcer for Super Bowl III.
In 1997, Jones was awarded the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
's
Pete Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle (; March 1, 1926 – December 6, 1996) was an American businessman and executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retirement i ...
Radio-Television Award. He also received an
Emmy Award in 1973 for his part as writer, producer and host of the
documentary ''Is Winning the Name of the Game?''
Other TV work
During his time at NBC, Jones also broadcast the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
calling the infamous
Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to:
In sports Association football
* Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer
* Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player
Other codes of football
*Ben Johnson (Australian foot ...
-
Carl Lewis
Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...
100 meter dash,
1986 FIFA World Cup,
1991 Ryder Cup
The 29th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 27–29, 1991, on The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, southwest of Charleston.
The United States team won the competition by 14 to 13 points, winning b ...
,
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...
and
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, as well as
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
,
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
golf, and
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
tennis.
He was the announcer for auto races including the 1988
Meadowlands Grand Prix
The Meadowlands Grand Prix was a CART IndyCar race held at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey from 1984 until 1991. The event was the first major auto race in the New York City metropolitan area since the 1937 Vander ...
and throughout the
1998 Formula One World Championship.
He was the play-by-play announcer for the 1986
college football national championship, where
Penn State defeated
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
14–10 in the
1987 Fiesta Bowl
The 1987 Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game that served as the final game of the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. Part of the 1986–87 bowl game season, the 1987 Fiesta Bowl also served as the National Championship Game, between ...
, and for the
1993 'Game of the Century', where #2
Notre Dame upset #1
Florida State
Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...
, 31-24.
In 1999, he returned to ABC Sports to call
college football until the 2001 season.
He was also a play-by-play announcer for the
Cincinnati Reds in
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
and
1974 (when
Hank Aaron
Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...
hit home run #714 to tie
Babe Ruth
George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
on opening day),
California Angels in
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...
, and
Colorado Rockies from
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...
to
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
.
In the mid-1970s, he hosted ''
Almost Anything Goes
''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show ''Intervilles'', and was part of the international ''Jeux sans frontières'' franchise.
History
The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 Au ...
with Regis Philbin, The American Frontier with Merlin Olsen'', and ''Pro-Fan''.
Jones, along with
Frank Shorter
Frank Charles Shorter (born October 31, 1947) is an American former long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics. His Olympic success, along with the ac ...
, provided the voices of the TV announcers for a fictionalized staging of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field trials in the 1982 film ''
Personal Best''.
Personal life
In 2008, Jones died at the age of 77 at his home in
La Jolla, California of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
.
He and his wife, Ann, had two children, Chuck and Julie.
[ He is a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.]
References
External links
*
Charlie Jones on Sports (Charlie's own blog)
NBC's Charlie Jones, 1930–2008
*
NBC sportscaster Charlie Jones dies
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Charlie
1930 births
2008 deaths
American Football League announcers
American game show hosts
American television sports announcers
Association football commentators
California Angels announcers
Cincinnati Reds announcers
College basketball announcers in the United States
College football announcers
Colorado Rockies announcers
Dallas Texans announcers
Golf writers and broadcasters
Los Angeles Rams announcers
Canadian Football League announcers
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Motorsport announcers
National Football League announcers
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football announcers
Olympic Games broadcasters
People from Fort Smith, Arkansas
Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award recipients
Swimming commentators
Tennis commentators
Track and field broadcasters
United States Air Force airmen
University of Arkansas people
University of Southern California alumni