St. Louis Rams Ultimate Team: Defense

Defensive End: Deacon Jones (1961-1971)

Deacon Jones

Deacon Jones is the best player on this list, defense or offense, without question. If you look up “great” in the dictionary, Deacon Jones’ name would be in the synonyms. An NFL icon, Jones was the leading man on the Rams “Fearsome Foursome” line of the 1960s. He played with tremendous speed for a man his size (6-5, 272 pounds) and he played angry. Nicknamed “The Secretary of Defense”, Deacon was a nightmare for offenses, especially Quarterbacks. Jones remains a one of a kind character in NFL history, a person who played with his ego and attitude as much as his skill. The term “sack” was coined by Deacon Jones and his powerful “head-slap” move to get by opponents was so effective that the NFL banned its use. During his tenure with the Rams, Jones missed just three games. Although sacks were not an official stat during his time, Jones and teammates say they kept track. Unofficially Jones has 173.5 career sacks (159.5 with the Rams), which would put him third all-time. He also had three 20-sack seasons, two of which (26 and 24) are higher than the current single-season record. Keep mind this is in just 14 games as well! Jones was also a two-time Defensive Player of the Year.

Check out the video below to watch Jones explain the term sack, his patented head slap, and just Deacon being Deacon.

Next: Merlin Olsen