HALL TO RECOGNIZE ALLEN AS PIONEER.

Byline: DOUG KRIKORIAN

David (Deacon) Jones, the legendary defensive end for the old Los Angeles Rams, is discussing one of his favorite subjects.

``George Allen no doubt made me a much better football player and I must humbly admit I was pretty good when he became coach of the Rams in 1966,'' Jones is saying. ``George drove you constantly and drove you to limits you never knew you had. He had long practices. He had long meetings. He had a way of always keeping your mind on football.

``You'd get mad at him every day. But come Sunday, you'd play hard for him the entire game. His slogans and his constant pushing brought the best out of you. You just knew in the fourth quarter that you'd be in better condition than your opponent because of the diligent way George prepared you for the game.

``When I first came to the Rams, I had no faith in white America because I came from the segregated South, where blacks were treated as strictly second-class citizens. But George made me one of the captains of the team and gave me responsibility that I had never had before with the Rams. I became one of the team leaders and I responded to his faith in me.

``I'd go through his lengthy practices like General Grant went through Richmond. I remember one time getting out of bed for a game against Minnesota with a 105-degree temperature, and I turned out to be the MVP of the game. George had a way of inspiring his players to staggering emotional heights. I could go on and on and on about the greatness of George Allen.''

Jones will be allowed to go on for a mere three minutes Saturday when he gives the presentation for his late coach in Canton, Ohio, when George Allen finally will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Allen's oldest son, George, a United State Senator from Virginia, will give the acceptance speech for a misunderstood man who had a trailblazing impact on professional football.

``This is a great honor for my husband, but it's just a shame he isn't alive to enjoy it,'' said Etty Allen, who lives in the home her husband built in Palos Verdes Estates 27 years ago. ``You always hear about George and his coaching exploits, but I'll always remember him for being such a tender soul. I remember one time when I was picking the apricots off our trees, and George said, 'Leave some for the birds. They have to eat, too.' There isn't a day that passes without my thinking of him. He had that kind of impact on people.''

I'll also never forget George Herbert Allen, who never had a losing season during his 14 years in the NFL (116-47-5).

He was a fierce perfectionist and an incurable optimist who believed the human spirit could overcome all obstacles. But the heart that fatally betrayed him on Dec. 31, 1990 had long been shattered by a cruel blackball by the NFL that had been instigated by his ridiculous firing by then-Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom on Aug. 12, 1978, after two exhibition losses.

Despite the remarkable success he had in reviving reeling franchises in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., Allen never was able to land another NFL coaching position after Rosenbloom's mean-spirited act that came about because Rosenbloom reacted to the complaints of a few prominent players disgruntled by Allen's lengthy practices and to the back-stabbing of a couple of Ram front-office employees.

Allen would return to pro football in 1983 when he became the head coach of the Chicago Blitz of the fledging United States Football League, and would, naturally, be successful during the two seasons he was affiliated with that short-lived operation.

But he never was tendered a job by an NFL team after that second ill-starred tour with the Rams even though he was recognized as an innovative coach whose extraordinary record should have defied all criticism.

``My dad died with a broken heart,'' said Bruce Allen, now a top executive with the Oakland Raiders. ``Teams now do things that my dad was criticized for doing 25 years ago. When he had Jack Kent Cooke build Redskins Park for $400,000, he was roundly criticized by the sportswriters and one mockingly wrote, `George had an unlimited expense account and he quickly exceeded it.'

``Well, my dad believed that a team's office and practice field should be located in the same vicinity. The Redskins were the first team to do that, and now all the teams do. And, by the way, Cooke wound up selling that property he bought for Redskins Park for $11 million. He made a huge profit because of my dad.

``I remember Dan Reeves (who owned the Rams at the time) thought my dad was crazy when he hired a special-teams coach. 'Why do you need someone just to coach the special teams?' he asked my dad. Well, everyone now has a special-teams coach. My dad also was the first coach to use the 'nickel' and 'dime' alignments on defense. And he also was the first to institute an offseason minicamp that also caused quite a stir the first time he called for one. Now, of course, all the teams have minicamps.''

Jones remembers when George Allen arrived from the Chicago Bears in 1966 to take over a Rams team that had fallen into the dark abyss during the previous coaching regimes of Bob Waterfield and Harland Svare.

``We had been all over the place during the previous seasons,'' Jones said. ``Every year we'd get new players and trade a lot of good ones. And every year we'd lose. The coaches couldn't make up their mind if Bill Munson should be the starting quarterback, or Roman Gabriel. It was a real mess and we just kept losing even though the Fearsome Foursome (Jones, Merlin Olsen, Roosevelt Grier and Lamar Lundy) was intact.

``Then George came in and everything changed almost overnight. George got rid of all the guys who were complaining and brought in a lot of old veterans who knew how to play the game. He brought stability to the team and we won a few exhibition games and began believing in ourselves. He made Roman Gabriel our starter and we soon took off.''

Jones, now 62 and residing in Anaheim Hills with his wife Liz, admits it's been taxing for him this week attempting to compose a speech on his old coach to fit the three-minute limit.

``I could go on about George for hours,'' Jones said. ``But basically I'm going to talk about what he always talked about - teamwork, hard work, pride, determination and competitive spirit. Those are things he always was trying to instill in his players. And he always was able to do so. What a great coach. And he also was a great man.''

NFL HALL OF FAME CEREMONY

When: Saturday

Where: Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio.

Time: Noon

Inductees: George Allen, Dave Casper, Dan Hampton, Jim Kelly, John Stallworth.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) NFL coach George Allen

Box:

NFL HALL OF FAME CEREMONY (see text)