FormerPokeCenter
June 29th, 2014, 07:38 PM
Northwestern's underrepresented on this board, so I'll post this for them.....
It's been 31 years since former Demon Joe Delaney, an NFL Rookie of the Year, drowned while trying to save three kids who couldn't swim, but who'd ventured into a pond. One survived, two others, and Delaney drowned.
The kicker? Delaney couldn't swim, either...
I was in the stands at LSU's Bernie Moore track June of 1981 when Delaney ran the most kick-ass second leg I've ever seen on a 4x100 meter relay and gave Northwestern a lead over Tennesse's team, featuring Jeff Philips and Willie Gault, a Georgia team that featured Mel Lattany and Herschel Walker and an Arizona squad that featured Olympic Silver Medallist Dwayne Evans. Northwestern's anchorman, future Miami WR Mark Duper held off a guy you may have heard of, Carl Lewis, to bring home the NCAA 4x100 championship to Northwestern. It was an awesome race, but it was Delaney who won it for them, absolutely blowing the doors off the field on that second leg...
Northwestern's in lane three, Tennessee's in lane four....the guy that Delaney walks down is Jeff Philips, who turned in a 10.00 in the 100 meters the night before in a photo finish against Lewis who ran 9.99....Lewis, Gault and Evans are seen on the anchor leg...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufMGFtBa9U
I got to meet Delaney during the spring of 1982, at Northwestern's track meet in Natchitoches. I was a freshman nobody hurdler, and Delaney was fresh off of winning the NFL's rookie of the year. He came over to where we were warming up to speak with Stephen Starring, our All-American hurdler and QB who went on to his own NFL career. Delaney was friendly and personable and after he finished his conversation with Stephen, made a point to turn and tell me that it was nice to meet me. I was floored...and probably a little star struck...
Here's a decent article from one of my former editors...
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20140629/SPORTS10/306290017
And, finally, a great video from the KC Chiefs...
http://www.kcchiefs.com/media-center/videos/Chiefs-Kingdom-Joe-Delaney/0cb24631-8c8a-41fa-a2ab-ea04fc495990
It's been 31 years since former Demon Joe Delaney, an NFL Rookie of the Year, drowned while trying to save three kids who couldn't swim, but who'd ventured into a pond. One survived, two others, and Delaney drowned.
The kicker? Delaney couldn't swim, either...
I was in the stands at LSU's Bernie Moore track June of 1981 when Delaney ran the most kick-ass second leg I've ever seen on a 4x100 meter relay and gave Northwestern a lead over Tennesse's team, featuring Jeff Philips and Willie Gault, a Georgia team that featured Mel Lattany and Herschel Walker and an Arizona squad that featured Olympic Silver Medallist Dwayne Evans. Northwestern's anchorman, future Miami WR Mark Duper held off a guy you may have heard of, Carl Lewis, to bring home the NCAA 4x100 championship to Northwestern. It was an awesome race, but it was Delaney who won it for them, absolutely blowing the doors off the field on that second leg...
Northwestern's in lane three, Tennessee's in lane four....the guy that Delaney walks down is Jeff Philips, who turned in a 10.00 in the 100 meters the night before in a photo finish against Lewis who ran 9.99....Lewis, Gault and Evans are seen on the anchor leg...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ufMGFtBa9U
I got to meet Delaney during the spring of 1982, at Northwestern's track meet in Natchitoches. I was a freshman nobody hurdler, and Delaney was fresh off of winning the NFL's rookie of the year. He came over to where we were warming up to speak with Stephen Starring, our All-American hurdler and QB who went on to his own NFL career. Delaney was friendly and personable and after he finished his conversation with Stephen, made a point to turn and tell me that it was nice to meet me. I was floored...and probably a little star struck...
Here's a decent article from one of my former editors...
http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20140629/SPORTS10/306290017
And, finally, a great video from the KC Chiefs...
http://www.kcchiefs.com/media-center/videos/Chiefs-Kingdom-Joe-Delaney/0cb24631-8c8a-41fa-a2ab-ea04fc495990