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Two-time Super Bowl champion Tony Jones has died, the Broncos announced on Friday. He was 54 years old.
The 13-year-old NFL veteran spent four seasons with the Broncos, playing offensive tackle from 1997-2000. He served as the team’s right tackle during his first championship season in 1997 and held the future Hall of Famer Reggie White without a sack in Super Bowl XXXII.
Jones occupied the left tackle position in 1998, when Denver won another title. Jones won prizes in the Pro Bowl that season, protecting John Elway’s blind side.
Jones started 60 games in his time in Denver.
Jones joined the league as a free agent not hired by the Browns in 1988 and spent eight seasons in Cleveland. Jones was a second team All-Pro in 1994.
Jones played for the Ravens in 1996 before the Broncos negotiated a second-round choice to acquire him in February 1997.
“We lost a great man,” posted Rod Smith, recipient of the Broncos’ Ring of Fame, on social media. “It just happened to be a hell of a playa ball. We love you and miss you. One of the best Broncos tackles. best dresser of ALL TIME! “
Willie Anderson and Steve Atwater also expressed their condolences.
“He was an amazing guy, a really nice guy,” said Atwater. “Great football player – mean, nasty. That’s the kind of guy you want to go to war with if you go to war. “