Headslap: The Life and Times of Deacon Jones

From a small rural town in Florida to the NFL Hall of Fame, this is the story of Deacon’s rise to the top of the heap in the National Football League. Headslap refers to the lightning move popularised by Jones in the early days of the game, when a player could rattle the cage (or at least the helmet) of a blocker by belting him alongside the head. And Deacon did this better than anyone in the game. They weren’t jabs; they were full left hooks and right crosses. So devastating was this move that the League outlawed it. Headslap has a deeper meaning as well: it’s the jarring feeling you get when you realise that things aren’t always what they might seem to be.