Remember Charlie

Much will be made of the passing of Tim Russert today, but I heard Mike Tirico mention this during coverage of the men's U.S. Open golf tournament today and I wanted to post a special acknowledgement of the passing of sportscaster Charlie Jones, who died Thursday of a heart attack.

I remember Charlie most as a play-by-play announcer for NFL football games on NBC. My memories of him are from the 1980s and 1990s, though he called football for NBC in the 1960s and 1970s as well. In addition to football, Charlie called some other sports for NBC at times, including the Olympics and Wimbledon. Like many sportscasters, Charlie made a few cameo appearances in films and on television programs throughout his career. Interestingly, accordingly to the Internet Movie Database, his last of these cameos was on The L Word.

Charlie had a distinctive, deep voice--distinctive enough that I'm sure many who don't recognize his name would at least remember his voice if they heard it. His announcing partners thoroughout his career on The NFL on NBC included the likes of Todd Christensen, Bob Trumpy, Randy Cross, Merlin Olsen, Bob Griese, and Len Dawson, among a number of others.