The word “Legend” is used much too often these days, but we just lost a real one. David “Deacon” Jones should be considered one of the five greatest football players in the history of the NFL. Jim Brown, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Jerry Rice and John Unitas would round out that group.
In case you are wondering where the term “sack” came from in football, Jones created it. There was no such animal nor stat before he arrived. He was bigger than many linemen and faster than most quarterbacks and running backs. He could not be blocked by one man on most occasions, and the list of men that would claim such a feat can be counted on one hand.
After Jones made his presence felt in the NFL and this phenomenon they called “sack” was invented, Jones felt like he was shortchanged, as many claimed to be the all-time sack leader and most dominant. It irked Jones so much that he hired a company to have someone watch film on every game he played to count his sacks. While the NFL would not recognize all of them because many were before 1982 when the stat was first counted, Jones claimed to have 173, which would make him third all-time.
Here is where Jones made his claim to fame. The head slap has been banned by the NFL for over 40 years. Few even know what it means. Quite simply, the rule states that no player could go to the head of a opponent with his hand and or fist.
Deacon Jones was a master of the head slap. His logic was if he could hit a guy in the head going forward, the head slap would come forth and stun and discombobulate that player enough for Jones to go by him and proceed to create havoc for the quarterback. It worked so much that the NFL felt it was unfair.
Can you imagine in this day and age of not being able to go to the head for any reason how much Jones would be fined, if not suspended? In the end, it really did not matter for Jones as he still took care of business with the famed Fearsome Foursome, one of the most dominant front lines in the history of the NFL.
Upon retirement Jones went on to have a successful career as a pitch man. He and Dick Butkus and others teamed up to do Miller Lite commercials in the ‘70s and ‘80s, an ad campaign that saved Miller Brewing at the time, as Miller Lite was at one point the hottest beer on the market. Jones made regular appearances in St. Louis to support his old team, the Rams, and had tons of stories that were all true. “Colorful” would be one word to describe him. “Great” would be more accurate.
Rest in Peace, Deacon.
Two swan songs in NBA Finals
Now that we have the NBA Finals all set, let’s clear up a few things.
For those who think there is no interest in the NBA because sports talk radio features no one who can talk about it, think again. TV ratings always report that more people watch the NBA in St. Louis than the NHL when it comes to their championships – a town, I might add, that has a hockey team. Too bad that no one on the air even tries to cover the game, using the lame excuse that people frown on NBA talk.
Connect the dots on that one and, yes, few things change around here. When the subject comes up, it’s always prefaced by “I know NBA talk is frowned upon and people don’t care, but…” It just shows you how shallow some can be.
Let’s talk about the Finals. Now that the Facebook frauds who are down with whoever is popular this week can rally around the Miami Heat, I will remind you that they will face a team in San Antonio that played Miami as tough as anyone this season. The Spurs are well coached, and they know this is their last run with their stars like Tim Duncan.
The health of the Spurs has been shaky, hence Coach Gregg Popovich rested them as much as possible, even if it meant being fined. And what did it get them? A trip to the Finals.
Desperate teams do desperate things, so do not count the Spurs out. As for Miami, they too could be playing their swan song. Dwayne Wade has slowed dramatically and has fewer takeover nights. How many does he have left for the Finals?
Chris Bosh. Really? This guy apologizes for his poor play more than anyone in recent memory. Bosh was almost the reason the Heat was watching Indiana play in the Finals.
Then there is LeBron. Yes, he is in the one-name greatness category. He does everything and then some. He is smarter and more skilled than anyone in the game, Kobe included. He makes every team better, including the Heat. He certainly deserves a seat at the table of discussion when it comes to greatest of all time. Being part of more championship teams will come into play in the eyes of the unqualified, but who in the game is even close to being second to him?
While San Antonio is not the network darling, they will do just fine as they play the game the right way. It would be a good lesson for those who blab on social media sites about “their team” to take a look at how the game of basketball is played with a fundamental view. San Antonio is good enough to allow LeBron to score 40 every night and still shut down the rest of the team. It will be fun to watch and learn from, as this may be the last time we see either of these teams in the Finals for some time.
