The recent passing of Deacon Jones had me thinking of his fantastic career. From the moment that I first thought of making an All-Time NFL team, Jones has been one of the defensive ends on that team. I've long had Reggie White opposite Jones. It would take a pretty incredible football player to bump Jones or White from that team. Defensive end is an interesting position in the grand scheme of football. The pass rushing defensive end that we know and love today is fairly new. Two platoon football in the 1950s allowed for specialization on each side of the ball. The ends that you saw catching passes on offense were no longer the same ends on defense. As the passing game became more prevalent so did the need to harass the quarterback. Players like Gino Marchetti, Doug Atkins, and especially Deacon Jones started changing the way that defenses played. These days, 3-4 pass rushing linebackers seem to be getting most of the sacking attention. Today, that changes. In honor of Deacon Jones, the Flea Flicker picks the ten greatest defensive ends to play the game.
10. Len Ford
9. Andy Robustelli
8. Lee Roy Selmon
7. Howie Long
6. Willie Davis
5. Doug Atkins
4. Bruce Smith
3. Gino Marchetti
2. Reggie White
1. Deacon Jones
It's tough to leave off Hall of Famers like Carl Eller, Fred Dean, Richard Dent, Elvin Bethea, and Chris Doleman and recent defensive ends like Jared Allen, Michael Strahan, and Dwight Freeney. All kept offensive tackles up at night. All had quarterbacks running for their lives. As long as quarterbacks keep throwing the ball there will be a need for the players that just want to break those quarterbacks. None did that better than Deacon Jones.
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