Me as well, Sheky
Donald would be the obvious choice given recency bias, and the fact that not all of us actually saw the Deacon play when we were mature emough in our undedrstanding of fooball to appreciate him. That's why, in my view, why Donald wins the poll.
How many of us who answered actually saw the Deacon play? The highjlights only tell the surface of the story.
I was in my second year of college when the Deacon came up. I watched him in person many times, and whenever I could watched the Rams were on TV.
You had to see him between plays. You had to see the menacing looks he gave opposing players who had tried to cheap-shot him before he called up something utterly ferocious out of himself and decimated them.
I remember a time, don't recall the opponent, when Deacon had to come out of a game with an ankle injury. Somebody twisted his leg under a pile - thought he had taken Deacon out of the game.
Deacon had to be helped off the field. The announcers thought for sure he was done for the day. The cameras went to him on the sidelines, his pain obvious, as he was being worked on. Quite a bit of time went by before we were surprised to see him limping, barely gimping along on the sidelines. Still, his limp didn't look like he could possibly return. The camera showed the menacing contemptuous glare he was levelng at the guy who hurt him The camera showed that guy lookimg away, or trying to.
Deacon continued to pace for a long time - still limping, but not as bad as when he first stood up and could barely walk when he put himself back in the game. "Oh-s***-oh-dear," my father said and we both laughed. We both knew what was coming.
Headslaps and full body pickup-and-slam blocks and tackles were legal then. Deacon hunted his oppressor down with a vengance. Dad and I both laughed every time the poor devil got what was coming to him - all legal, Deacon never got penalized and I don't recall whether the opposing player finished the game. But he had to be hurting for a long time after the beating he took.
The Cowboys Ralph Neeley was a notorious holder. In one Cowboy game Neeley tried to hold Deacon once too often, too blatently. Deacon's response was a series of head-slaps aimed at Neeley's earholes, thrown like a three-punch combination in boxing, that left Neeley holding his head, dizzy but still standing, as Deacon went toward the quarterback. Neely wasn't fully present for the rest of the game and Deacon got - how many - sacks and pressures? Deacon continued to head-slap him juist for the hell of it for the rest of the game.
It was Deacon's idea for the Fearsome Foursome to stand at the line of scrimmage and wait for the opposing O to approach them.
As an athlete: Deacon Jones ran a 4.7 forty. On grass. Wearing the day's pads and cleats. He was faster in wind sprints than Jaguar Jon Arnett. His quickness was something you had to see in person to appreciate. He was incredibly strong and had an innate undertstanding of leverage.
Play him clean and he'd beat you. He was unstoppable. There was no opposing tackle who could neutralize him. He'd get his by game's end, and like AD had a knack for getting it when it counted most.
Double-team him, and he and Merlin would take care of that quite well, thank you, and one of them would break the other free.
When asked something-or-other about his effectiveness and fierce style of play, Deacon said, "Hit them hard enough a few times and it takes the brave out of them."
Get desperate and play him dirty and you're asking for it. Grab his face-mask and a few plays later he'd grab yours and try to give you a whiplash. I forget the guy who made that mistake. Deacon didn't initiate that sort of play but if somebody else did he'd retaliate.
Another interviewer asked about Deacon's getting even when players had to do with Deacon's getting even.when fouled. Deacon said he didn't try to get even. his answer ended with, "... I want to put them in the hospital."
And he meant it. You could tell. This wasn't for show.
No player I have seen before or since struck the palpable fear into opponents that the Deacon did.If the question is meant
as stated, there can only be one answer:
Deacon Jones.
