SAN DIEGO — Charlie Jones, the deep-voiced sportscaster whose career as a play-by-play announcer spanned 38 years for ABC and NBC, has died. He was 77.

Jones died of a heart attack Thursday at his home in the La Jolla district of San Diego, his longtime agent, Martin Mandel, told The Associated Press.

"Charlie is one of the legends of sports broadcasting starting with covering the first Super Bowl," Mandel said. "He had a wonderful kettledrum voice. He was known for that and his versatility."

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."