СÀ¶ÊÓƵ

A young NFL.com reporter learned it wasn't such a good idea . The result was typical, quotable Jones: "Man, I've got jockstraps older than you!"

David Jones is about as common a name there is. That's why Jones, cognizant of his early career anonymity, conjured up his own nickname: Deacon. "Football is a violent world and Deacon has a religious connotation. I thought a name like that would be remembered," . One could make a case that Jones' creation turned out to be .

Quarterback sack totals didn't become an official СÀ¶ÊÓƵstatistic until 1982; that's extremely unfortunate given the plethora of outstanding pass rushers who toiled in the СÀ¶ÊÓƵlong before then. This means that is excluded from the record books. Thankfully, there are people who have gone back through the old game footage to record Deacon Jones' incredible sack totals. In 1967, Jones (unofficially) registered 26 sacks, a standard that would eclipse the current single-season record of 22.5 by Michael Strahan. That total becomes more impressive when you realize that it was accomplished in a 14-game season. For an encore, Jones (unofficially) had 24 sacks in 1968.

Deacon Jones played 14 seasons in the trenches of the NFL, yet he somehow managed to miss just five games. He played in 191 of a possible 196 regular-season games at defensive end in his career.

Deacon Jones is the to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There only are seven other members of the Hall of Fame besides Jones, the 186th selection in the , taken later than the 14th round.

Deacon Jones came to the СÀ¶ÊÓƵout of tiny Mississippi Vocational College. Mississippi Vocational College would later be renamed Mississippi Valley State, which produced . It's amazing to consider that one small school produced two players who arguably are the greatest ever at their respective positions.

Deacon Jones' enthusiasm for performing in front of an audience extended beyond the gridiron. , including "Heaven Can Wait," as well as TV shows such as "The Brady Bunch," "The Odd Couple" and "Wonder Woman".

In 1965, the members of the Los Angeles Rams' famed "Fearsome Foursome" -- Deacon Jones, Lamar Lundy, Rosey Grier and Merlin Olsen -- to perform "Since You've Been Gone." This was a precursor to Jones' off-the-field hobby of performing in nightclubs as a rhythm and blues singer.

Deacon Jones was in front of a camera. He's stated such things as, "I'd made up my mind that I wasn't taking any prisoners and the wounded would be shot," and the graphic "Sacking a quarterback is just like you devastate a city or you cream a multitude of people." Despite such bravado, Jones was known as a clean player. Aggressive, yes, but not one to administer a cheap shot. "I played against him a thousand times. Never once did he hit me below the knees. Never once did he try to clothesline me. Never once did he have a dirty play. He was a fair player and a great player," Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame quarterback .

Long before the likes of or convinced their coaches to allow them to kick, Deacon Jones put an exclamation point on his stellar career. In his final game in the NFL, Jones convinced Washington Redskins coach George Allen . The kick was successful, and an appropriate conclusion to the career of one of the game's all-time great characters.