NBC sportscasting legend Charlie Jones dies in Calif. at age 77
  
                        

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Charlie Jones, the deep-voiced sportscaster whose career as a play-by-play announcer dated to the beginning of the American Football League in 1960, has died. He was 77.

Jones died of a massive heart attack Thursday at his home in the La Jolla district of San Diego, said his wife, Ann.

Jones, who retired in the late 1990s, had been in poor health for several years, she said.

Jones worked for ABC and NBC in a career spanning 38 years.

"He said, 'I never felt like I ever went to work,"' Ann Jones said Friday. "He loved it. He said, 'I've got the best seat in the house.' "

Jones started at ABC in 1960, the year the AFL made its debut. He moved to NBC in 1965, remaining with that network until 1997.

Jones announced 28 different sports, while with NBC, from golf to tennis, baseball to figure skating. He called events at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

"He really liked them all," Ann Jones said. "He really did. He wasn't particular, because they were all so different."

NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol called Jones "one of the great pioneers of NBC Sports. His work in particular on the NFL, golf and the Olympics left a lasting legacy."

Longtime agent Martin Mandel said Jones was "one of the legends of sports broadcasting."

"He had a wonderful kettledrum voice. He was known for that and his versatility," Mandel said.

Jones will be cremated and his ashes spread over the Pacific Ocean. A celebration of his life will be held Wednesday afternoon at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club.

"He had it in his will that men cannot wear ties," Ann Jones said.

Jones also is survived by two children and three grandchildren.

"He had it in his will that men cannot wear ties," Ann Jones said.

I like that

R.I.P., Charlie  

Charlie Jones was a consummate professional when it came to providing coverage of so many sports with an innate ability to succinctly provide his listening viewers with a comprehensive picture of what was going on at any time. Aside from the commanding quality of his 'sports' voice, Mr. Jones did not hesitate to acknowledge and compliment those around him and those who came to him for advice and support. Thank you for your time and generosity, Charlie. You'll not be soon forgotten.