To the elder Giant Faithful, it is a familiar lament. To the younger fan, a historical curiosity to which they cannot relate. When, who, or will there ever be: another Homer Jones?
It has now been forty seasons since Homer Jones was the last Giant wide receiver selected to the Pro Bowl. Forty years since his physical presence at split left end on the Giant offense placed opposing defenses in terror of his potential destruction. For Homer Jones was, indeed, just such a player. Truth be stated, over a four year period, Homer was one of only five truly dominant offensive players in the NFL. Players who made opposing defenses adjust to brilliance else they be immediately burned by a long score. Of the five, four (Gayle Sayers, Charlie Taylor, Bob Hayes, and Leroy Kelly) are in the Hall of Fame. Tragically, a career long knee injury cost Homer his career just as he was at the pinnacle of his game. If not, Homer would certainly be among these four greats in Canton.
Yes, Homer Jones was that good. No, not just good, but great. At 6'2" tall, 225 lbs., with world class speed and hands likened to butterfly nets, Homer was as talented a wideout as who ever played the game. During 1966-1968, Homer had three consecutive seasons of 1000 plus reception yardage. This in an era when such a statistic was as rare as fifty home runs in baseball. (Or at least as rare until baseball's Steroid Era forever tainted this once revered accomplishment.) But it wasn't just what Homer did. It was also how he did it. Big. Very big. Bigger than life. Ruthian, in fact. Yes, that big.
To truly understand Homer Jones' impact, consider the following. He presently hold the NFL career record of 22.3 yards/catch (minimum 200 catches: 224/4986). Yet this statistic does not do Homer's career true justice. For it was in his touchdown production that Homer truly blows all contenders away. Of Homer's 34 career touchdown catches, 29 were for more more than thirty yards, 19 more than fifty yards, and ten for more than seventy yards. Homer gained a total of 1710 yards on these 34 touchdowns, an astounding 47.8 yards/touchdown catch. Although I am unable to locate this all-time statistic, I would be shocked to find any player to average within twenty yards of this accomplishment.
Homer Jones was born on February 18, 1941, in the small rural community of Pittsburg, Texas. He was the only child of a steelworker father and a school teacher mother. The family moved to L.A. during WW II, then moved back to Texas following the war. Homer, a clearly talented child (he was walking by ten months and speaking by one year), did not play football for most of high school. Instead, he played the saxaphone, hoping for a career in music. By his senior year, Homer, who wished to go to college, realized that music would not earn him a college scholarship. Homer then tried out for the football team and was assigned to play fullback. On his first play from scrimmage, Homer ran eighty yards for a touchdown. Homer's senior season was good enough to qualify him for college ball. For a black man living in the south in the late 1950s, the opportunity to play for the lilly white big universities did not exist. Homer received nine scholarship offers from black southern universities. He turned down perrenial powerhouse Grambling as too far from home. Instead, he settled on Texas Southern, located in nearby Houston.
Homer played linebacker his freshman season at Southern, then moved to halfback as a sophmore. In his junior year, he was moved to flanker, where he made Small College All American. In his last two seasons at Southern, he excelled in running reverses, which routinely resulted in long gains. Homer states that he would occasionally reverse the reverse, just to see what might happen. In his next to last game at Southern, Homer injured his knee on a reverse play. Still, he was drafted by Giants in the Round 20 (#278 overall) of the 1963 NFL draft. Homer opted to instead sign with the Houston Oilers of the fledgling American Football League.
Homer re-injured his knee in a pickup game prior to reporting to the Oilers' 1963 training camp. When the Oilers lost interest in his services, Homer's career fell into limbo. Homer then contacted the Giants on the advice of a sportswriter friend. The Giants requested that he receive an offical release from the Oilers. He did so, and the Oilers agreed. The Giants then brought Homer to New York, where team doctor Anthony Pisani operated on the knee. Homer rehabbed on the taxi squad for the entire 1963 season, then played sparingly in three games during the disasterous 2-12 1964 campaign.
Homer came into his own in 1965. During a 7-7 Giant campaign, Homer caught 26 passes for 709 yards, an astounding average of 27.3 yards/catch. Even more impressive was that Homer caught four touchdowns of 70+ yards. His numbers on six touchdowns were 89, 79, 7, 28, 74, and 72.
The Giants opened up the 1966 season with a wild and wooly 34-34 tie with the Steelers. In that game, Homer scored on touchdown passes of 75 and 98 yards. Although the Giants would only win one game enroute to a 1-12-1 season, Homer was outstanding. He caught 48 passes for 1044 yards, 21.8 yards/catch, and eight touchdowns. His numbers on the eight touchdowns were 75, 98, 20, 34, 17, 9, 50, and 82.
In 1967, Homer flat out broke the league apart. Newly aquired QB Fran Tarkenton was an unorthodox kindred spirit with whom Homer immediately connected. Homer would open the season with two touchdowns in each of the first three games, scoring on passes of 70, 38, 52, 35, and 68 yards, plus a reverse run TD of 45 yards. Homer would finish the season with 49 catches for 1209 yards, a 24.7 yard/catch average, and thirteen touchdowns. Add in five carries (with one touchdown) plus two kickoff returns, Homer scored an incredible one touchdown for every four times he touched the ball. Homer's yardage per touchdown: 70, 38, 52, 45 (run), 35, 68, 34, 22, 30, 66, 45, 2, 63, 69.
Homer made the Pro Bowl in 1967. This led to an odd near-confrontation with Homer's rival, Cowboy WR Bob Hayes. Hayes, the so-called "The World's Fastest Man" due to his world record 9.1 second 100 yard dash time, was also selected to the Pro Bowl. That said, many in the NFL thought that Homer Jones, once timed at 9.2 in the 100, might be even faster than Hayes. The Los Angeles Herald, which sponsored the Pro Bowl, wanted to conduct a pre-game race between the two in order to drum up interest in the game. Winner take all at $25,000. This was an enormous sum in that day and age. The race was called off when Giant owner Wellington Mara, who thought the race would ruin the good taste of the Pro Bowl, offered Homer $5,000 not to race. Homer reluctantly accepted, and the race never took place.
In 1968, Homer again went to the Pro Bowl as the Giants repeated at 7-7. His numbers were again outstanding: 45 catches, 1057 yards, 23.5 yards/catch, seven touchdowns. Homer's yardage in those seven touchdowns were 82, 56, 22, 44, 1, 60, and 73. Homer opened the 1969 season with a 54 yard touchdown catch in a 24-23 Giant win over the Vikings. Unknown at the time, this would be Homer's last touchdown as a Giant. His degenerative knee injury was hurting both his speed and his cutting ability. Although Homer ended the season with a credible 42 catches/744 yards/17.7 yards per catch, the Giants were aware that Homer's best days were quickly falling behind him. The Giant front office were willing to shop Homer's services to the highest bidder. That bidder turned out to be the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns, once formidable, but now slipping ala the 1963 Giants, coveted Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps as their potential savior. The Browns were willing to give up All Pro wide receiver Paul Warfield to the Dolphins for the Fish' #1 pick (#7 overall) in order to draft Phipps, but only if they (the Browns) were able to land a comparable WR elsewhere. The Browns had an excellent trade bait of their own: Ron Johnson, first year running back from Michigan, who had played well in his rookie season. The Browns could afford to shop Johnson as they still had RB Leroy Kelly, who remained at the top of his game. The Giants, who at this point had no real running game, were willing to play. An indirect three way deal was worked out. First, the Browns traded Warfield to the Dolphins for the #7 pick (used to draft Phipps.) Then the Browns traded Ron Johnson and DT Jim Kanicki to the Giants for Homer Jones. Homer was now a Cleveland Brown.
Unfortunately for the Browns, the tank was empty in Homer's knee. A shell of himself, he caught only ten passes in 1970 for 141 yards. Always the big play gamer, Homer had two moments left in his career. To open the 1970 season, the Browns played the Jets in the first ever game of Monday Night Football. Homer returned the opening kickoff of the second half 94 yards for a touchdown that helped the Browns to a 31-21 victory. (Contrary to popular belief, the return did not open the game, but, as stated, opened the second half.) Homer would then make his only Brown touchdown catch in the final game of the season, a 43 yard effort thrown by Bill Nelson in a 27-13 victory against the Broncos.
Homer was traded to the Cardinals after the 1970 season, but he would never play again. The knee was just too bad. And so ended the career of Mr. Homer Jones. The greatest Giant wide receiver of my, or any other Giant fan's, lifetime. Homer, if you read this, kudos to you. And Thank You for the memories.
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