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http://www.ocregister.com/articles/jones-629209-ring-gallardo.html
BY JOEY RAMIREZ / STAFF WRITER
Published: July 17, 2014 Updated: 10:02 p.m.
JOSHUA SUDOCK , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ORANGE – As Guillermo Gallardo looked for his size in a stack of work pants at a J.C. Penney store, he felt something unexpected.
A toy?
No. After pulling it out of the pile, Gallardo realized the heavy gold ring in his hand was valuable.
Deacon Jones.
The name, in faded lettering, was engraved inside. And Gallardo, a 55-year-old who grew up an L.A. Rams fan, knew it to be the nickname for maybe the greatest NFL defensive lineman ever, Rams legend David “Deacon” Jones.
Gallardo took the ring to his home in Westminster. There, after some online research, he learned that a replica of Deacon Jones’ NFL Hall of Fame ring sold last year for $15,000.
Still, he had to give it back. Gallardo, who works for a water technology company, wanted to prove to his three grandsons that when he told them to do the right thing – always, no matter what – he meant it.
But give it back to whom? Jones, a longtime Anaheim Hills resident, died in June 2013. Gallardo couldn’t find anybody to contact.
So Gallardo turned the ring over to the Orange Police Department.
That was three weeks ago. On Thursday, Gallardo was back at the Orange Police station, handing the ring to Jones’ widow, Elizabeth Jones, who’d driven in from her home in Las Vegas.
Elizabeth Jones, who says she never cries, fought back tears as Gallardo presented her with the ring that had been lost for a year before her husband died.
“I’m very seldom at a loss for words,” Elizabeth Jones said. “But I don’t know what to say to thank you for this.”
“There’s nothing to say,” Gallardo said. “Just to see the smile on your face is worth it.”
Jones wore his Hall of Fame ring all the time. When he lost it, Elizabeth Jones said, she and Jones turned their Anaheim Hills home upside-down.
Whoever had the ring outfitted it with a ring guard, a small piece of metal, to prevent it from sliding off – something that her husband’s massive fingers never needed.
Gallardo and Jones believe the ring slipped off when the person who had it was searching through that same stack of pants as Gallardo.
“Somebody has been wearing it for a couple of years, and God is punishing them,” Jones said. “Or my husband is.”
She plans to send Gallardo some memorabilia in appreciation.
In his 14-year NFL career, Deacon Jones never won a Super Bowl. So being a member of the Hall of Fame was “the most important thing in his whole life,” his wife said. She said she auctioned off the replacement ring in December because her husband cared only about the original.
Before leaving the police station, Jones spent 20 minutes wrenching the ring guard off her husband’s most treasured possession. As she walked out, she tucked the ring inside her purse and left the guard discarded on a table.
Contact the writer: joeyramirez@ocregister.com
BY JOEY RAMIREZ / STAFF WRITER
Published: July 17, 2014 Updated: 10:02 p.m.
JOSHUA SUDOCK , STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ORANGE – As Guillermo Gallardo looked for his size in a stack of work pants at a J.C. Penney store, he felt something unexpected.
A toy?
No. After pulling it out of the pile, Gallardo realized the heavy gold ring in his hand was valuable.
Deacon Jones.
The name, in faded lettering, was engraved inside. And Gallardo, a 55-year-old who grew up an L.A. Rams fan, knew it to be the nickname for maybe the greatest NFL defensive lineman ever, Rams legend David “Deacon” Jones.
Gallardo took the ring to his home in Westminster. There, after some online research, he learned that a replica of Deacon Jones’ NFL Hall of Fame ring sold last year for $15,000.
Still, he had to give it back. Gallardo, who works for a water technology company, wanted to prove to his three grandsons that when he told them to do the right thing – always, no matter what – he meant it.
But give it back to whom? Jones, a longtime Anaheim Hills resident, died in June 2013. Gallardo couldn’t find anybody to contact.
So Gallardo turned the ring over to the Orange Police Department.
That was three weeks ago. On Thursday, Gallardo was back at the Orange Police station, handing the ring to Jones’ widow, Elizabeth Jones, who’d driven in from her home in Las Vegas.
Elizabeth Jones, who says she never cries, fought back tears as Gallardo presented her with the ring that had been lost for a year before her husband died.
“I’m very seldom at a loss for words,” Elizabeth Jones said. “But I don’t know what to say to thank you for this.”
“There’s nothing to say,” Gallardo said. “Just to see the smile on your face is worth it.”
Jones wore his Hall of Fame ring all the time. When he lost it, Elizabeth Jones said, she and Jones turned their Anaheim Hills home upside-down.
Whoever had the ring outfitted it with a ring guard, a small piece of metal, to prevent it from sliding off – something that her husband’s massive fingers never needed.
Gallardo and Jones believe the ring slipped off when the person who had it was searching through that same stack of pants as Gallardo.
“Somebody has been wearing it for a couple of years, and God is punishing them,” Jones said. “Or my husband is.”
She plans to send Gallardo some memorabilia in appreciation.
In his 14-year NFL career, Deacon Jones never won a Super Bowl. So being a member of the Hall of Fame was “the most important thing in his whole life,” his wife said. She said she auctioned off the replacement ring in December because her husband cared only about the original.
Before leaving the police station, Jones spent 20 minutes wrenching the ring guard off her husband’s most treasured possession. As she walked out, she tucked the ring inside her purse and left the guard discarded on a table.
Contact the writer: joeyramirez@ocregister.com
