Deacon Jones passed away Monday night. The NFL has lost a
legendary player and a legendary character.
I remember the first time I spoke to Deacon Jones. As a
fanatical fan of “The Odd Couple” – every sportswriter’s favorite TV show – I
was compelled to tell Jones how much I enjoyed the episode in which he played
himself and helped Oscar and Felix film a TV commercial.
“Goddammit!” Jones shouted through the phone. “I’m in the goddam Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the only thing people want to talk about is 'The Odd Couple' and 'The Brady Bunch!'”
Of course, that’s not entirely true. The reason I was
talking to him in the first place was for a story about the Hall of Fame. Plus, I really didn't care about his turn on "The Brady Bunch."
The irony of Jones’ stellar appearance on “The Odd Couple” is
that he was portrayed as a stoic figure, a man of very few words. And as
everyone who knew Deacon Jones could attest, the Hall of Fame defensive end was
anything but stoic.
After Jones takes control of the Multiblade commercial that
Felix is directing in the show, Felix congratulates him on his performance by
exclaiming, “That’s speakin’, Deacon!”
When it came to “speakin’,” Jones was an all-star. In fact,
the only thing he was better at doing was terrorizing NFL quarterbacks as a member of the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome." In
addition to coining the term “sack,” he remains the unofficial career leader in that category – a stat that was not kept when he played. The bottom line: Few defensive
players could disrupt an opposing offense like Deacon Jones.
What made Jones so great? He certainly had the skill and the
physical ability. I once got to see Deacon personally demonstrate his patented
head slap – a move so devastating it became illegal in today’s NFL.
But probably what made Jones a dominant force on the
football field, more than physical talent and technique, was what made him such
a dominant force in life: his passion. Listening to Jones speak, it was easy to
understand what drove him in everything he did.
It’s that passion that made him a fixture in Canton, Ohio,
when Hall of Famers gathered every summer to welcome a new class of enshrinees.
Along with the late Ray Nitschke – another fiery defensive stalwart whose
character led him to be a hit in TV and movie cameos – Jones was among the most
vocal Hall of Famers. Nitschke and Jones were the driving forces of the Friday
luncheon during Enshrinement Weekend, where they would hammer home to the new
HOF class what it meant to be part of the Hall.
According to
Hall of Famer Willie Lanier, it was Jones who first talked to his fellow
members about how being a part of the Hall of Fame meant you were now a member
of the only team from which you can never be cut – even when you die.
Indeed, Deacon Jones will be missed… but he can rest in
peace knowing that he will always be a member of the greatest football team of
all-time.
