The Lost Chief: Remembering Joe Delaney (N'Western St.)

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-lost-chief-remembering-joe-delaney/

Worth your time.

[CHIP72]

What's ironic is right before I got on AGS and read this thread, I was reading about the 1981 NFL season, which was Delaney's rookie season (and also the first season I followed the NFL). Delaney helped the Chiefs post a 9-7 record that season, their only winning record between 1974 and 1985.

One can only wonder what kind of NFL career Joe Delaney would have achieved had he not drowned before the 1983 season.

[FormerPokeCenter]

I had three instances where my path crossed with Joe Delaney's...the first was my senior year, when I took a recruiting trip to NW La., to check out the Demon Program.

One of my HS coaches had played at Northwestern just a few seasons before and took me to go check out the school. He'd been a senior reserve when Delaney had been a freshman...I got a quick introduction while meeting the rest of the staff and some of the other players, including Mark Duper, who'd later star with the Miami Dolphins...

In June, a couple of weeks after I graduated from HS, I spent a week in Baton Rouge watching the 1981 NCAA track and field championships. I scored a ticket right near the finish line and watched tiny northwestern with three future NFLers beat the best sprinters in the world to bring home an NCAA title in the 4 x 100 meter relay.

Delaney won the race for Northwestern with the most blistering 2nd leg I've ever seen. He ate up the stagger on Jeff Phillips a 10.00 sprinter from Tennessee who'd taken second n the 100 meter final the night before. Phillips had gotten nipped at the wire by then University of Houston freshman phenom Carl Lewis who clocked a 9.99 for the win in his first big break out nation meet. He also won the Long Jump at the NCAAs that year.

Mario Johnson ran lead off for the Demons and had them in contention, Delaney absolutely blew the doors off the field and put Northwestern out in front. He had a best ever of 10.26 in the 100 meters, out of the blocks, but on a flying start? He was as fast as anybody in the world. Perhaps even faster...

Victor Oatis, who'd later play receiver for Indianapolis, ran third leg and maintained the Demon lead and Mark Duper brought it home with a strong leg, himself, holding off a hard charging Carl Lewis on the Anchor leg.

Also in the race that day were Herschell Walker and Mel Lattany, who'd entered the race with the fastest time in the world. Future Chicago Bear Willie Gault of Tennessee and Arizona State gold medallist Dwayne Evans...

Even in that field, Delaney conducted a clinic on how you run the 2nd leg of the spint relay....it was phenomenal...

The following year, when I was a freshman at McNeese and Delaney was coming off his AFC Rookie of the Year season at Kansas City, I was warming up for the 110 meter high hurdles (No, that's not a misprint. Despite playing center, I ran the hurdles my first two years in college, until I blew out a knee) at the Demon Relays at Northwestern, when Delaney came over to talk to our All-American hurdler, Stephen Starring, who'd been a QB at McNeese, but played wide receiver for the Patriots....Stephen introduced me to DeLaney again, and they chatted while I continued to stretch and warm up....After they were done, Delaney started to walk away, but turned and then shook my hand and told me that it was nice to meet me. He CLEARLY didn't have to do that. He was on top of the world, but still took the time to be genuinely nice to a freshman nobody from a visiting school.

I'll never forget that....

I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed a fair amount of tears when I first heard the news that he'd drowned...

RIP Joe Delaney. Tremendously gifted world-class athlete. Even better human being...

[FormerPokeCenter]

Here's an old grainy video of the 4 x 100 relay....Northwestern's in Lane 3...you can't see Delaney very clearly, but you can see how he closes the gap at the end on Phillips, who's the big "white guy" at the right of the screen. Phillips had been a running back at Ohio State under Woody Hayes before transferring to Tennessee...

On the anchor leg, you'll see Dwayne Evans of Arizona State, Williie Gault and Lewis making a hard charge on the outside...

v=0ufMGFtBa9U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufMGFtBa9U