35 Facts About Deacon Jones

David D "Deacon" Jones was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins.

Deacon Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

Deacon Jones was born in Eatonville, Florida, and lived in a four-bedroom house with his family of ten.

Deacon Jones attended Hungerford High School, where he played football, baseball, and basketball.

Late in life, Deacon Jones told The San Diego Union-Tribune that when he was 14 years old, he witnessed a carload of white teenagers laughingly hit an elderly black woman with a watermelon.

The woman died days later from the injury, and Deacon Jones recalls that there was never a police investigation.

Deacon Jones 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.

Deacon Jones became a part of the Fearsome Foursome defensive line of the Rams, which is considered to have been one of the best defensive lines of all time.

Deacon Jones won consensus All-Pro honors five straight years from 1965 through 1969 and was second-team All-Pro in 1964,1970, and 1972.

Deacon Jones was in seven straight Pro Bowls, from 1964 to 1970, and was selected to an eighth after the 1972 season with the San Diego Chargers.

Deacon Jones was voted the team's Outstanding Defensive Lineman by the Los Angeles Rams Alumni in 1962, '64, '65, and '66.

Deacon Jones was traded along with Lee White and Greg Wojcik from the Rams to the San Diego Chargers for Jeff Staggs, a second-rounder in 1972 and a second and third-rounder in 1973 on January 29,1972.

Deacon Jones 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.

Deacon Jones concluded his career with the Washington Redskins in 1974.

Along the way, Deacon 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, Deacon Jones missed only six games of a possible 196 regular-season encounters in his 14 National Football League seasons.

Deacon Jones was considered by many to revolutionize the position of defensive end.

Deacon Jones was credited with coining the phrase "sacking the quarterback".

Deacon Jones once stated that a quarterback being sacked devastated the offense in the same way that a city was devastated when it was sacked.

In 1967, Deacon Jones had 21.5 sacks in only 14 games; he tallied 22 sacks in 14 games the following year.

Deacon Jones worked as a television actor, and appeared in numerous TV programs since the 1970s, most often appearing in cameo roles.

Deacon Jones appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple where he and Oscar were in a television commercial selling shaving products.

Deacon Jones played himself on an episode of Wonder Woman in 1978.

That same year, Deacon Jones portrayed a fierce defensive lineman named Gorman in the film Heaven Can Wait.

Deacon Jones played a role in the hit show, ALF, where he played a father figure to Alf.

Deacon Jones served as a color analyst for Rams broadcasts on KMPC radio in the 1994 season, teaming with Steve Physioc and Jack Snow.

Deacon Jones 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.

Deacon Jones was chairman for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals in their national hypertension awareness program.

Deacon Jones was adamant in interviews and appearances that he played for Los Angeles, not St Louis, and considered the Rams franchise there a different team that should have a different name.

Deacon Jones 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.

Jones stated that he gave himself the nickname Deacon after joining the Rams because too many David Joneses were in the local phone book.

Jones' wife Elizabeth is the chief operating and financial officer of the Deacon Jones Foundation, based in Anaheim Hills, California, the community in which the couple lived.

Deacon Jones was a rhythm and blues singer during his football days, and was backed by the band Nightshift, which later became the group War.

Deacon Jones sang onstage with Ray Charles, performed on The Hollywood Palace in 1967 and 1968, and on The Merv Griffin Show in 1970.

On June 3,2013, Deacon Jones died at 74 of natural causes after suffering from lung cancer and heart disease at his home in Anaheim Hills, California.