Written Friday, Oct. 1, 2004
*****

When I was asked about the possibility of representing Northwestern State at the induction of my former Demon football teammate, Joe Delaney, into the Kansas City Chiefs?€™ Ring of Honor and at The 37 Forever Foundation's annual dinner, I hesitated, thinking of the conflicts the trip to Kansas City would cause.

Then I remembered that poor excuse for a block, spoiled because I hesitated, that kept Joe D. from scoring one night in Turpin Stadium. In the thousands of blocks I have thrown in my previous football life, that is the only one that has haunted me for over 25 years. It's bothered me because Joe D. did not hesitate while he was running with that ball, and he did not hesitate when those three children who could not swim were drowning in that pond in Monroe on June 29, 1983.

No, Joe D., without any hesitation, jumped into the water trying to help those kids even though he couldn't swim. Under the same circumstances, how many of us would have jumped in the water knowing we could not swim?

Fortunately, A. L. Williams, our head football coach at Northwestern, and I were travelling together to Kansas City for the ceremonies at Arrowhead Stadium. By the way, Coach Williams did not hesitate even though he had conflicts. Coach Williams had not only been our football coach but also served as a trusted friend and advisor to Joe D. and many of us during the late 1970s and early '80s at NSU.

After celebrating the current day Demons' big win over Appalachian State on Saturday night, my alarm went off at 3:50 a.m. and a few hours later, we were heading out of the Kansas City airport. The tailgating for the Chiefs game looked more like a college game than other NFL games I've attended. Almost everyone was wearing Kansas City jerseys, except us. I had on a purple Northwestern shirt that resembled the colors of the Chiefs?€™ opponents, the Houston Texans, who had two former NSU players, cornerback Kenny Wright and offensive lineman Marcus Spears. As we walked through the solid sea of red, one gentleman walking behind us jokingly said, ?€œlet?€™s throw him out." We got lots of funny looks. We were able to arrive at Arrowhead Stadium just before kickoff.

As we entered the beautiful stadium, it was obvious everybody was having a real good time. The signs said a beer was $6.50 and clearly, they sell a lot of beer in Kansas City. When we got to our seats, we were even more appreciative of the Chiefs providing us with the $73 tickets close to the field. Sometimes I forget how fortunate we are at NSU and area high school games for the prices we pay.

After we sat down, I saw Joe D.?€™s listing in the Ring of Honor -- ?€œ37 Joe Delaney 1981-82?€ť -- already on the inside stadium wall in a prominent place with banners on both sides. Then it really hit me that he made such an impact on people?€™s lives in such a short period of time in Kansas City. How lucky the Northwestern family was to have had the benefit of Joe D. over four rich, accomplishment-filled years.

Coach Williams told me how much Joe D. would have enjoyed this induction and talked about the day he signed to play at NSU. When Coach Williams arrived at Haughton High School that day, there were about 15 other college football coaches there. Joe D. was a blue-chip player, so most of the major college powers were interested and thought he was one of the best defensive back prospects to come along in many years.

At Haughton, Joe played defensive back and wide receiver. It was rare that he played running back. Joe wanted to play wide receiver and most colleges were OK with that, too. Joe had not been beaten in the 100 or the 220 yard dash as a junior, and didn't lose a race in his senior season either. With all those other college coaches waiting, Joe saw in Coach Williams and NSU a man and a school he felt he could trust to treat him right for the right reasons.

Joe went over to Coach Williams and said, "I want to sign with you," and signed his name. The assistant coach from LSU said, ?€œA.L., you got a good one!?€ť Coach Williams asked Joe if he could come over to meet with his mom and him that evening, primarily to discuss what would be expected from Joe, and what Joe could expect from him and NSU.

After meeting with Joe?€™s mom, ?€œMrs. Eunice,?€ť and having her also sign the letter of intent, Joe followed Coach Williams out to the car and asked, ?€œCoach, do you think I could play pro ball??€ť Coach Williams replied, ?€œI don?€™t know, Joe. But you?€™ve got something very few have, and that is lightning speed. I?€™ll promise you, I?€™ll do everything I can to prepare you for that, if you will do everything you can to prepare for it." Joe said he would.

So on that glorious Sunday in Kansas City, 27 years later, there Coach was, watching Joe being honored for his pro career and his heroic deeds. Nobody outside the Delaney family deserved to enjoy that moment more than did A.L. Williams.

Usually, players on the NSU football team did not know much about the incoming freshmen. We had enough trouble keeping up with our teammates and ourselves. Joe Delaney was an exception, because I remember hearing about him in high school when he ran a 9.4 in the 100-yard dash. That got everyone's attention.

That fall at my position, wide receiver, we had four future pro prospects -- Joe D., Mike Almond, Waymond Waters (who died in a car wreck prior to the NFL Draft), and James Bennett. Subconsciously, most of us were probably hoping we could go to a 5- or 6-man wide receiver offense. Instead, in the middle of the 1977 season, injuries mounted and we became thin at tailback. Being the team player he was, Joe went to Coach Williams and said, ?€œCoach I haven?€™t played running back much, but if you need me to, I will."

That year he was learning, on the fly, how to be a running back. In 1978, Joe became a good running back and in his junior and senior years, he developed into a great running back. In my senior season, 1978, Joe D. made his first big splash. Against Nicholls, he broke loose after halftime, scored four touchdowns and ran for a state and, at the time, national record of 299 yards. It's still the school record for the Demons.

He was more than a fast guy running with the football. He was as tough as anybody on any field. Case in point: I saw why he was recruited as a defensive back. We threw an interception, and the poor defensive back with the ball happened to cut Joe's way. Joe was flatfooted, but he exploded off the ground and delivered what we called a "de-cleater." The poor guy took a huge hit, landed upside down and needed help leaving the field.

His senior season, Joe D. separated a shoulder. That would keep some guys out a month. Not Joe. He was back in the game a series later, and the next week, he scored two touchdowns against Louisiana Tech in the annual State Fair Classic, the biggest game of the year for both teams.

One spring, a Dallas Cowboys' scout Joe Jones, a former assistant coach on our staff and a good friend of our offensive coordinator, Billy Laird, came to time Joe in the 40-yard dash. As a joke, Laird told Jones that there were a couple of junior college transfers he might want to time and, respecting Laird's opinion, Jones agreed. The NSU coaching staff was watching the workout in their offices, from behind tinted windows. Jones was seen shaking his stopwatch, with a puzzled look on his face, during the tryout.

Afterward, Jones came up to the office and said, "Guys, something must be wrong with my stopwatches. I timed each of those three guys three times and my stopwatches never read higher than 4.29. Something has got to be wrong!"

Our coaches couldn't stop laughing. Those three guys were Joe D., Victor Oatis and Mark Duper -- all who played pro football. That threesome teamed with Mario Johnson to win the 1981 NCAA championship in the 4x100 meter relay for Northwestern, running against world-class sprinters like Carl Lewis, Herschel Walker, Willie Gault and their teammates from big-name schools Houston, Georgia and Tennessee, among others.

Although he was truly blessed with talent, Joe D. worked extra hard in the weight room and even worked out on his day off. Many of our Demon teammates followed his lead.

On draft day of 1981, Joe D. was sitting in Coach Williams' office, taking a call from the Chiefs' coach, future Pro Football Hall of Famer Marv Levy, telling Joe they were about to make him their No. 2 draft choice. Meanwhile, Kansas City assistant coach Bobby Ross was talking on another phone to Coach Williams. Ross, later head coach of the Chargers and Lions, asked if Joe could start for the Chiefs that fall. Coach Williams told him that he couldn't make that call, but if Kansas City had somebody as good as Joe D. at running back they would be very fortunate. The Chiefs traded their starting tailback believing Joe would earn the job, and he did.

I'm told that when Coach Levy made his Hall of Fame acceptance speech in Canton, he made a point to mention Joe Delaney. He said in his entire football career, Joe was one of the five best players he ever coached, and he was an even better person. Levy said if Joe had been able to finish his pro career, he would have made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, too.

Joe brought out the best in people. At no personal gain, Shreveport attorney Bob Pugh helped Joe D. until he could settle on an agent. Buffalo Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson, who played for Coach Williams at Woodlawn High in Shreveport, lived in Natchitoches and helped coach us in the spring and worked out with us through the summer. My roommate, current Bossier City comptroller Bruce ?€œBoom-Boom?€ť Bickham, and I were fortunate enough to regularly catch passes in the heat of the summer from Ferguson until he left for pro camp each year. Ferguson helped Joe D. and a lot of us become better football players and to learn a pro-style offense, which we used under Coach Williams.

Joe D. was always more substance than show on, and off, the field. When he signed his pro contract, instead of purchasing a fancy vehicle (which he could afford), he bought a reasonably priced vehicle for his wife, Carolyn, and a Cougar for himself. He purchased a home for his wife and daughters and wanted to buy ?€œMrs. Eunice?€ť a nice home, too, but she refused, saying she raised Joe and all his brothers and sisters in the house she lived in, and she was staying put. Obviously, Joe was raised in a wonderful, very special, deeply religious family.

In his first year with the Chiefs, Joe D. was named AFC Rookie of the Year. His immediate impact surprised everybody around the NFL, but nobody around the Northwestern football program. We knew he was a special athlete, an incredible competitor and a man made of the right stuff.

At the Ring of Honor halftime ceremony last Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, many former Chiefs' players joined Joe's wife, Carolyn, and other family members on the field. It was quite a scene, looking out to see famous pro stars like Len Dawson, Bobby Bell, Marcus Allen and many others paying tribute to our friend and teammate. Those who knew him, even for a short time, wanted to be part of the ceremony.

His big number 37 jersey was shining bright, framed and sitting on an easel at the 50-yard-line. Joe D. was a unique sort of inductee than the Chiefs, or perhaps any other NFL team, has ever honored. His pro football career ended differently than the others in the Ring of Honor. We were all so proud. During the ceremony there was a lady in the stands who had an old No. 37 Delaney jersey and she was waiving it proudly. What a fan!

Monday Night Football for us meant attending the annual banquet of The 37 Forever Foundation at Arrowhead Stadium. People from all walks of life from all over the country joined together several years ago, because they were moved by Joe D.?€™s story. They raise money and have fun while helping to teach children how to swim. Most of the members are Chiefs' fans, but some don?€™t know a thing about football. The group has an Ark-La-Tex chapter and we are planning the start of a NSU/Natchitoches chapter. Take a moment, when you can, to visit their website (www.37Forever.org). These are unselfish people, just like Joe.

At the banquet, Coach Williams and I told some of the stories I've already recounted here. Afterward, people wanted to know more about this incredible man who ultimately sacrificed his life, surely to be filled with riches and fame, for three strangers drowning in a pond. We invited the group to come down to Louisiana and learn more about Joe, and they didn't hesitate to say they will be here, maybe when we have the Joe Delaney Memorial golf tournament next spring, or the Joe Delaney Bowl spring game.

Today, as I write this, my family and I have buried the ashes of my Mom, who passed away last November and had donated her body to medical science. I was lucky to have both Joe D. and my Mom in my life, because they never hesitated to be there for me and so many others.

The great ones never hesitate because they're thinking of others more than themselves. Joe was always that way, all his life, not just on that fateful summer day, June 29, 1983, in Monroe. That's why, more than two decades after his heroic death, I am sure Coach Williams and I were far from the only ones in Arrowhead Stadium with tears in our eyes at halftime last Sunday afternoon.