ENGLEWOOD, Colo. Tony Jones, a starting tackle on two of the Denver Broncos’ champion teams, has passed away, the team announced on Friday. He was 54.
Jones, who started with a right tackle in the Broncos’ victory in Super Bowl XXXII and started with a left tackle when the team won Super Bowl XXXIII the following year, played 13 seasons in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens and Broncos after he entered. the league as a non-drafted rookie in 1988.
Known as “T-Bone” to his Broncos teammates, he spent the last four years of his career with the Broncos, where he retired after starting 16 games in the 2000 season at the age of 34.
“We’ve lost a great man,” former teammate Rod Smith posted on Twitter. ‘It happened to be a great ball game. We love you and miss your Bone. One of the best Broncos tackles of all time. The best sideboard of all time! ‘
Ed McCaffrey, another former teammate at the Broncos, called Jones “ a great teammate and a great man, ” and Hall of Famer Steve Atwater, who also played on those two Super Bowl teams, said Jones was “ a great teammate. ” with ‘only the most beautiful children. “
Atwater also said Friday night that many of the players from those Broncos teams have kept in touch with each other and that “everyone is hurting about this.”
The Broncos, believing they were ready to return from a playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars to end the 1996 season, traded a second-round pick to the Ravens in 1997 to take over Jones.
In Super Bowl XXXII, at the right tackle, he held Hall of Famer Reggie White bagless and one tackle overall, while the Broncos rushed to 179 yards and Hall of Famer Terrell Davis was named the MVP of the game.
After Gary Zimmerman, also a Hall of Famer, retired for the 1998 season, Jones moved to the left tackle and started every game on his way to a Pro Bowl roster when the Broncos won a second straight title.
Jones was named to the Broncos’ Top 100 squad in 2019.
In a post on social media, former Bengals Willie Anderson called Jones “a great dad, friend, offensive tackle, trainer and coach.”