The Secretary of Defense

                David ‘Deacon’ Jones passed away this week. The words were hard to read this morning but they are even harder to write.

          For football fans of a certain age, particularly pro football fans from the Los Angeles area in the 1960s, there was no more recognizable name or player than Deacon Jones.

          There was no better player at his position, either. A defensive end, he was known as the Secretary of Defense. Jones was a member of the Rams’ Fearsome Foursome, possibly the greatest of all defensive lines.

          Jones may or may not have invented the term ‘quarterback sack,’ and he certainly did not invent the head slap. But he popularized the term and used the slap to terrorize offensive linemen all over the National Football League.

          If the offensive linemen were worried, how do you think the quarterbacks felt?

          Jones was a big man but he had an even bigger personality and today, roughly 40 years after he played his final pro game, it is that personality that we miss. He never tired of telling his stories and we never tired of hearing them.

          Somewhere, the late quarterbacks John Unitas and Don Meredith are huddling together and they are asking each other this question: “He can’t bother us here, can he?”

          Probably not, guys. But, just to be safe, I’d put on a Rams helmet if I were you.

 

          Thanks for reading. And Deacon, thanks for the memories.