David "Deacon" Jones was a star
NFL defensive lineman in the 1960s and early '70s. He was the prototype of the modern
defensive end -- a big, quick monster who's strong enough to push aside offensive linemen yet quick enough to chase down
quarterbacks and other ball-carriers.
Jones was the Los Angeles Rams' 14th-round draft pick in 1961. He wasn't known very well, having played college football at South Carolina State and Mississippi Vocational (now known as Mississippi Valley State). Anyone drafted that late has little chance of making the team; however, Jones turned out to be a Hall of Famer and perhaps the greatest end ever.
His signature move was the "head slap" -- where he would bitch-slap the opposing offensive lineman right smack in the helmet, allowing him to get by the lineman and attack the ball-carrier. (If you've ever worn a helmet, even a light helmet slap causes a very unpleasant ringing sensation. The NFL eventually outlawed the practice.)
The head slap was just a move; Jones' real skill was his speed. Previously, defensive linemen were more preoccupied with stopping running plays, and if the other team was passing the ball, they would attempt to bull-rush over the offensive lineman. Jones was quick enough to go around the lineman -- the defensive end, as the name suggests, plays on the end of the line -- and attack the quarterback, thus sabotaging the play before it had a chance to develop. Deacon was the first to call tackling the quarterback a "sack," saying, "You know, like you sack a city -- you devastate it." The term later became part of standard football-speak; eventually, it became an official statistic. Unofficially, Jones had 173 1/2 sacks in his career, the third-most ever, behind Reggie White and Bruce Smith.
Teams tried to double- or triple-team Jones, but it didn't work; his Ram teammates on the defensive line were awfully good too. They were tackles Merlin Olsen and Roosevelt Grier and end Lamar Lundy, and they came to be known as The Fearsome Foursome. (Olsen was also known for some cheesy 1-800-FLOWERS television ads in the 1980s.)
However, Jones never played in an NFL Championship game or the Super Bowl. Basically, the Rams always had good defenses but bad offenses. Moreover, the Green Bay Packers were incredibly dominant during the best years of Jones' career.
Tidbits
Jones was also a civil-rights demonstrator in college, albeit briefly. While at South Carolina State, he participated in a Lunch Counter March and got hosed by the police. At Mississippi Vocational, his experiences with racism were so horrid that he refuses to return to the state ever again.
Jones gave himself the nickname "Deacon." He felt David was too common.
Currently, Jones can be seen on two silly sports-themed roundtable shows on Fox Sports Net -- NFL This Morning and The Best Damned Sports Show, Period. He often jokes about wanting to head-slap the other people on the show.
NFL teams: Los Angeles Rams, 1961-1971; San Diego Chargers, 1972-1973; Washington Redskins, 1974.
Awards: Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1980; Five-time All-Pro; named "Most Valuable Ram of All Time" by the Los Angeles Times; named the "Devensive End of the Century" by Sports Illustrated.
Editors Note:
Deacon Jones died on June 3, 2013 of natural causes at his Anaheim Hills, California home. He was 74 years old.