Rams to retire No. 75, worn by Deacon Jones
Kathleen Nelson gives us the following update:
Better late than never, the St. Louis Rams will retire No. 75, worn by Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones, who played for the Rams from 1961 to 1971 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980.
For St. Louis Rams fans who are unfamiliar with Jones, here are a few career highlights:
Nicknames surrounded Jones, born in 1938 in Eatonville, Fla. He is credited with coining the term “sack the quarterback” and was nicknamed Secretary of Defense. Through most of the ‘60s, Jones teamed with Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier to make up the defensive line known as the Fearsome Foursome.
Jones accumulated 159.5 sacks with the Los Angeles Rams, 173.5 in his career. After leaving the Rams, Jones played for Chargers and Redskins. Other achievements include:
First defensive lineman to record 100 solo tackles in a single season, 1967.
Two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, 1967 and 1968.
Nine-time Pro Bowler.
Member of the NFL’s all-Decade team in the 1960s.
Member of the NFL’s 75th Anniversary team in 1994.
No word on when the Rams will hold the retirement ceremony.
About time! One has to wonder why it took so long!
It is a travesty that Deacon Jones went this long without having his number retired. The Rams organization should be embarrassed that it took this long. One of the greatest players in the history of the game, very possibly the best player in Rams history. What an embarrassment that it took this long.
This is well deserved recognition of Deacon, but one wonders if the Rams are doing this because they feel it was deserved, or if they’re just trying to boost ticket sales? Or maybe both. Maybe they wanted to do this 10 years ago, but figured they’d wait until it could benefit the organization a more. I’m betting the Rams will be holding the retirement ceremony prior to a home game this season, and they’ll likely pick one of the games that has low projected ticket sales.
About time…
b - That is just smart business, why would you pick a guarantee sellout. When the revenue could come from a lesser revenue game.
Nine-time Pro Bowler. Did this guy ever beat Dick Weber?
long over due got paid very little for what he did did not conplaine
Way over due!
Thank you Chip for finally doing the right thing. Mr Jones has been deserving of this honor for quite sometime. Who cares why now or what game. Please make it a joyous celebration for a individual that gave the Rams everything he had on the field as a player while his eyes can see the appreciation. St. Louis Rams fans and LA Rams fans let’s do our part to honor Mr. Jones. Chip bring in all the men of the Fearsome Foursome that are live and able to come to this long over due and well deserving number retiring celebration.
Congratulation Big # 75! With Yo Bad Self!
” Secretary of Defense Deacon Jones “
This is a “Hall of Fame” move.
Nice to hear it ‘Deaconator”, about time, Congrats!
Better late than never, but this should have happened YEARS ago. One of THE all time Ram (and all time NFL) greats - failing to recognize him in all this time is a real slap in the face. SHAME ON THIS ORGANIZATION FOR WAITING SO LONG! >:-(
And btw Deacon, CONGRATULATIONS. I wear your throwback jersey with pride - you are truly one of the elite to have ever played this game.
“Thank you Chip for finally doing the right thing. Mr Jones has been deserving of this honor for quite sometime. “Who cares why now or what game. Please make it a joyous celebration for a individual that gave the Rams everything he had on the field as a player while his eyes can see the appreciation. St. Louis Rams fans and LA Rams fans let’s do our part to honor Mr. Jones. Chip bring in all the men of the Fearsome Foursome that are live and able to come to this long over due and well deserving number retiring celebration”.
Congratulation Big # 75! With Yo Bad Self!
” Secretary of Defense Deacon Jones “
— Tclay
3:10 pm June 22nd, 2009
YO, ‘Tclay’, thanks for saving me the time. Your post is on point and thourough. Congrats, Brother Jones!!
GO RAMS!!!
Simply put, the best Ram of all time. Here’s to the Secretary of Defense and the
keeper of the gate at the Hall of Fame.
Way long over due! I can’t believe that the writer had to put in “For St. Louis Rams fans who are unfamiliar with Jones,” My God! Even if you are not a Ram’s fan, you have to know who the Deacon was! Anyway, Congratulations David “Deacon” Jones.
Decon played 10 years…Jackie Slater played 20 all for the RAMS. So who’s more deserving?
As a long time Rams fan, all I can say is this is well deserved.
He’s the man. Glad to see they are going to pay him some respect by retiring his number. Too Cool.
Now the Cards need to retire #51.
Truly an honor well deserved. The 2009 Rams should look that the tapes of the 1969 team That Deacon played on. The offense, defense as well as the coaching staff would benefit. Next up..let’s get #18 Roman Gabriel into the Hall if Fame..!!!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overdue congratulations to current Rams management and “the Deacon”
Yes, it is about time.
Congratulations, Mr. Jones.
YES!!! Congratulations to Mr. David “Deacon” Jones!!!
All the NFL commentators through the years have mentioned that Deacon Jones would probably have been the sack leader over Bruce Smith and Reggie white however they did not keep track of sack during Deacon’s playing days so where do these stats come from?
Although I live in Massachusetts, I’ll have to find a way to get to the Number 75 retirement ceremony. Don’t want to miss it!
the stlouis rams rule the la rams suck HARD! stlouis rams for life
Awesome! I had his poster along with Gabriel and Olson on my wall when I was a kid and I lived in N.Y. They started a tradition of exciting defense that went through the 70s for the most part. I’d like to see them retire it with a lot of the defensive stars the Rams have had over the years and play in the throwback jerseys for the game.
It is about time that (Dave) Deacon Jones gets his number retired. Many people, including John Madden, believed Jones was the sack leader of all time because he was sacking QB’s before it was being counted.
Congrats to Deacon Jones!!!!
Chip again thank you for finally honoring this most deserving individual.
Mr. David Deacon Jones aka Secretary of Defense.
One more suggestion please hire someone to do a better job with the team website. There are a lot of bright minds in the area that can make it exceptional, it needs some serious attention.
…too bad Deacon had to head slap the organization to get this, long overdue, thing done!!!!!!
Yo, Yo lets not forget the famous head slap he was known for. Deacon Jones was a head ach waiting to happen. Thanks for the memories Deacon.
I know diddly freaking squat about football and even I’ve heard of Deacon Jones!
I’m glad he’s finally getting well-deserved recognition.
Certainly it was the lone extra point he kicked in his last game that made the Deacon worthy of this honor….even if it was for the Redskins. With all due apologies to Mr. Buck, I remember watching that game and thinking to myself, “I can’t believe what I just saw.”
Congratulations Deac….long overdue.
Its about time - way to go Deacon!
I can’t beleive it has taken so long for Deacon’s number to be retired.
The following players have thier numbers retired, and all of then except Bob Waterfield came after Deacon.
7 Bob Waterfield
28 Marshall Faulk
29 Eric Dickerson
74 Merlin Olsen
78 Jackie Slater
85 Jack Youngblood
All these are great players, but it about Frikking time the Secretary of Defense was honored.
Eric, Marshall, Jackie, Jack, Merlin and Bob make some room, cuz the Deacon is in the house now.
It’s about dang time! David “Deacon” Jones was so much fun to watch at the Coliseum when I was a kid. For those who never saw him play, look up some old film. He was better than any other DL in history. If the NFL had been keeping track of sacks during his entire career, he’d be the all-time leader.
I THINK THEY SHOULD RETIRE THE WHOLE FEASRSOME FOURSOME AT ONE TIME . THEY WERE ONE OF THE BEST IF NOT THE BEST EVER ,AS A UNIT . EACH ONE MAKING THE OTHER BETTER .
The Deacon revolutionized this position like no other in the history of the NFL. The Fearsome Foursome outplayed and were more feared than the Purple People Eaters or Steel Curtain. They receive less notoriety due to no Super Bowl appearances and questionable team management.