RIP Deacon Jones

I can't find a clip of the Odd Couple bit where Oscar got frozen in front of the camera and Deacon took over and did the commercial, but that was way better than the Brady Bunch.

 

My first sports editor in Long Beach took this shot in '65. He calls it one of his "prized possessions".

Olsen, Jones, Grier, Lundy. 3 of the 4 are dead (Grier still alive).

 

Another stud from my childhood gone..and dammit most of these NFL guys don't seem to clear 75. Bubba Smith was 66.

 

The Deacon was one of the best all-time. RIP.

 

Jay Mohr, who knew Jones from their days working together for Fox Sports, tells a great story about how Deacon jumped his ass when he asked if he got all those scars on his knees from football. Jones went on a rant how he got those scars "killing chinks in Korea."

Mohr later talked to Jones' wife, halfway apologizing and expressing empathy for what a tortured soul Deacon appeared to be, even all those years after the war. Deacon's wife said, "Deacon wasn't never in Korea. You go tell that man he's full of shit."

And yeah, Deacon would have been 14 years old when the Korean War ended.

 

That shot just screams old school football, doesn't it.

I love it.

 

Yup right down to the Riddell Snug Ties. I miss those days.

 

The best part is the mud.

 

I'm old enough to remember when the Rams unis were considered the "wildest" in the league.

 

That might be blood.

 

The Rams back then had a pretty good LB crew also in Maxie Baughn , Jack Pardee and Myron Potious.