NFL Films Remembers Deacon Jones

David Jones dubbed himself deacon after deciding that his given name sounded too common but there was nothing common about the way Deacon Jones played the defensive end position I could do things on a football field that you probably haven't seen done since that because I it just flowed for me Deacon came out of nowhere to be one of the greatest football players ever at that time and still today he's he's the best defensive em ever the Los Angeles Rams discovered Jones by chance while watching film of one of his college opponents they made the little-known product of Mississippi vocational a 14th round selection in 1961 he soon established himself as a destructive combination of speed quickness and explosiveness never before seen in a 270-pound defensive lineman I would say to say at this point in time I was a fastest in history a game from a dead standstill my ladder of movements along with my initial speed was just fantastic I could outrun Daly he changed running away from a defensive end we never blocked the the off end never had to but him once you left him alone he'd catch anybody running to sweep away from in Los Angeles Jones teamed with Merlin Olsen rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy deformed the fearsome foursome one of the most dominant defensive lines in NFL history I think I would match our group against any that I've ever played the game Deacon was our quick knife to the heart of the offense and we really turned him loose and said Deacon come off the ball go as aggressively as quickly as you can and raise as much havoc as you can Jones was a unanimous all-league selection six straight years from 1965 to 1970 and won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1967 and 68 in 14 seasons man known as the Secretary of Defense made eight Pro Bowls and specialized in the quarterback sack a term he invented sacking the quarterback is just like like you like you devastate a city or you cream or you cream a multitude of people I mean it's just like like you put all up offensive players in one bag and I just take a baseball bat and beat on the bag okay we just found a time the NFL only began keeping official SEC statistics in 1982 so Jones's name appears nowhere on the list of all-time sack leaders however no football historian would question his inclusion on such a list by his own count Jones registered one hundred seventy three and a half sacks one of the highest totals in league history Deacon Jones has more sacks than anybody in his to this game but they won't go back and count him past 1981 in 1982 why not give credit where credit is due I'd like to have known how many sacks David Jones and I know that he was a dominant defensive end that I've ever seen rushing the passer many of Jones's fierce rushes to the quarterback were aided by his use of the head slam a technique the league ultimately outlawed the head slap was due two purposes one was to give myself an initial head start on the pass rush in other words a extra step because any time you go up side a man's head then they have a tendency to blink the eyes or close the eyes and that was all I needed gail c has had a statement out that all he needed was 16 inches well all I needed was a blink of the old eyes and I was bi come on he developed an equally well earned reputation for his gift of gab Deacon Jones is the kind of guy he wants a brag he wants to challenge people he want to say we're the best you guys got to come stop I took a beautiful lake down here in Los Angeles Times named Jones the most valuable RAM of all time and his beloved coach George Allen called him the greatest defensive end of modern football when I here and put my back into it you know boom I mean that's gonna provide that shot that's going to put the intimidating fear of God into that running back let him know and they can go back to that huddle and tell his quarterback damn man I'm not running in Deacon Jones area anymore so each time he came over there I tried to tear his damn head off what's better football football oh man the Rams sent a 33 year old Jones to the San Diego Chargers in a multi player trade before the 1972 season he spent two years with the Chargers playing in his eighth Pro Bowl in 1972 he finished his career with the Washington Redskins in 1974 all told Jones missed just five games out of a possible 196 during his 14-year career it was a badge of courage for me to be out there when I was sick hurt to meet you let you look me in the face when the press has been talking all week about I ain't gonna make and I won't surprise you all Sunday and look you in the eyes because if I beat you when I'm hurt you know what I done to your whole mentality David I welcome you to the National Football League Hall of Fame Deacon Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and his first year of eligibility in 1980 it's with great pleasure that I stand before you to receive the supreme recognition of the professional football world that honors the joy and admiration of one's own ability I wasn't gonna be a lawyer I wasn't gonna be a doctor I wasn't gonna be the president United States I was destined just like great jobs born saying the blues Deacon was born Russia quarterback's

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Length: 6min 6sec (366 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 02 2015