Headslap

the long version

This is the story of Deacon Jones' rise to the top of the heap in the National Football League. "Headslap" refers to the lightning move popularized by Jones, when a player could rattle the helmet of a blocker by belting him along side the head. And Deacon - The "Secretary of Defense"--Did this better than anyone. So devastating was his trademark move that the league eventually outlawed it. More than a simple sports story, Headslap brings to full view the NFL during the. 1960s and 1970s - a time of incredible social upheaval and change in the United States. Deacon's story reveals the difficulties that all black players confronted trying to break into the NFL.