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Deacon Jones

David D. "Deacon" Jones (born December 9, 1938 in Eatonville, Florida) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Jones specialized in quarterback sacks, a term attributed to him. Nicknamed the "Secretary of Defense", Jones is considered one of the greatest defensive players ever. The Los Angeles Times called Jones, "Most Valuable Ram of All Time," and former Rams head coach George Allen called him the "Greatest Defensive End of Modern Football".

Early life

Jones was born in Eatonville, Florida and lived in a four bedroom house with his family of ten. Jones attended Hungerford High School, where he played football, baseball, and basketball. He would then work jobs that were very physically demanding, such as picking watermelons. During high school, Jones developed a lump on his thigh and later learned that it was a tumor, but had to have surgery to resolve his problem.

College career

Jones' college football career consisted of a year at South Carolina State University in 1958, followed by a year of inactivity in 1959 and a final season at Mississippi Vocational College (since renamed Mississippi Valley State University) in 1960.

South Carolina State revoked Jones' scholarship after they learned that he was a part of a sit-in during the civil rights movement. However, one of the assistant football coaches at South Carolina State was leaving to coach at Mississippi Vocational and told Jones and some of the other black players that he could get them scholarships at the new school. While he was playing at Mississippi Vocational, he and his black teammates had to sleep in cots in the opposing team's gym because motels wouldn’t take them on numerous occasions.

Professional career

Jones was drafted in the fourteenth round of the 1961 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He then earned a starting role as a defensive end and teamed with tackle Merlin Olsen to give Los Angeles a perennial All-Pro left side of the defensive line. He became a part of the Fearsome Foursome defensive line of the Rams (along with Lamar Lundy, Rosey Grier, and Olsen), which is now considered one of the best lines of all time. Jones won unanimous All-Pro honors six straight years from 1965 through 1970 and was second Team All-Pro in 1964, 1970, and 1972. He was also in seven straight Pro Bowls, from 1964 to 1970, and was selected to an eighth after the 1972 season with the San Diego Chargers. He was voted the team's Outstanding Defensive Lineman by the Los Angeles Rams Alumni in 1962, 64, 65, and 66.

In 1972, Jones was included in a multi-player trade with the San Diego Chargers where he was an instant success. He was named San Diego's defensive captain and led all Chargers' defensive linemen in tackles and won a berth on the AFC Pro Bowl squad. He concluded his career with the Washington Redskins in 1974. Along the way Jones was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Week four times: Week 14, 1967; Week 12, 1968; Week 11, 1969; and Week 10, 1970.

An extremely durable player, Jones missed only six games of a possible 196 regular-season encounters in his 14 National Football League seasons.

Sacks

Jones was considered by many to revolutionize the position of defensive end. Jones was noted for coining the "sack". What separated Jones from every other defensive end was his blinding speed and his ability to make tackles from sideline to sideline, which was unheard of in his time.

He claims that he accumulated 173.5 sacks over his career, which would be third on the all-time sack list.

In 1967, Jones amassed 26 sacks in 14 games, which (if official) would be the single season record. The term "sack" had not yet been coined at the time, and official sack statistics were not recorded by the NFL until 1982.

After football

Acting

Jones has worked as a television actor, and appeared in numerous TV programs since the 1970s, most often appearing in cameo roles. He appeared in a memorable episode of "The Odd Couple" where he and Oscar were in a television commercial together, hawking shaving products.He appeared on "The Brady Bunch" The Drummer Boy First. In the series G vs E, he played himself, but as an agent of "The Corps".

Business

Jones has worked for many companies, including the Miller Brewing Company, Haggar Clothing, Pacific Coast Medical Enterprises, and Epson America, and represented the NFL and Champion Products as spokesman for their Throwback campaigns. Jones was also chairman for AstraiZeneca Pharmaceuticals in their national hypertension awareness program.

Community involvement

Jones recently traveled to Iraq to meet with troops stationed there and U.S. General Tommy Franks.

Jones currently serves as the president and CEO of the Deacon Jones Foundation, an organization he founded in 1997 "to assist young people and the communities in which they live with a comprehensive program that includes education, mentoring, corporate internship, and community service."

Honors

He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1980, and was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994. In 1999, he was ranked number 13 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, the highest-ranked player to have played for the Rams franchise, the highest-ranked defensive end, and the second-ranked defensive lineman behind Bob Lilly. The same year, he was named by Sports Illustrated as the "Defensive End of the Century".

1978 Elected to South Carolina Sports Hall of fame

1981 Voted to the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame

1984 Elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame

1991 Recipient of the Vince Lombardi Award Presented by the Boy Scouts of America

1995 Elected to Black Sports Hall of Fame

1996 Recipient of the first annual Round Table Award Presented by Pop Warner Little Scholars

1999 Recipient of the Gale Sayers Lifetime Spirit Achievement Award

1999 Awarded "The Order of the Leather Helmet" by the NFL Alumni Organization, their highest honor

2001 Winner of the NFL Alumni Spirit Award for community service

2005 recipient of the Junior Seau Foundation Legend of the Year Award

2007 named to the Florida High School Association All-Century Team which selected the Top 33 players in the 100 year history of high school football in the state of Florida's history.