There’s a chance you haven’t heard of Joe Delaney. That’s why we do this, every June 29.
On this day in 1983, Joe Delaney tried to save three drowning boys in a man-made pond. Delaney didn’t think twice about trying to help.
“I can’t swim good, but I’ve got to save those kids,” Joe Delaney said. “If I don’t come up, get somebody.”
One survived. Two died. Delaney drowned, too. He was 24, and he left behind a wife and three daughters.
Here’s the original AP story about the incident.
Four years ago, the diver who retrieved Joe Delaney from the pond successfully lobbied for a permanent memorial to Delaney at Chennault Park in Monroe, Louisiana, Joe’s hometown.
“It’s never left my mind,” Marvin Dearman said at the time. “Basically, he died in my arms, and it’s something I’ve never forgotten.”
I’ll never forget reading about it in the newspaper, 41 years ago. For longer than I can remember, we’ve written something about Joe’s sacrifice, every June 29.
Every year, we hear from people who didn’t know about Joe Delaney.
He’s a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, for his achievements at Northwestern State. He was a second-round pick of the Chiefs in 1981. He rushed for 1,121 yards as a rookie, winning the AFC rookie of the year award. Injuries limited him to eight games in 1982, but his career was still promising. And in many ways his life was still beginning.
After rushing for 193 yards against Houston as a rookie, Oilers defensive end Elvin Bethea said this of Delaney: “I’ve played against the best — O.J. Simpson, Gale Sayers, Walter Payton and [Delaney] ranks right up there with them. He is great with a capital G.”
Joe Delaney is also great with a capital G because he was selfless with a capital S. He saw that three boys needed help, and he acted.
Joe Delaney is a member of the Chiefs’ Ring of Honor. The NFL should have something that honors Joe Delaney for what he did, so that more people will know about him. Even if it’s something as simple as an award given to the top rookie running back every year.
While few ever make the extreme sacrifice, Joe Delaney’s story hopefully inspires others to make smaller sacrifices in the name of doing the right thing, whenever there’s a choice to be made between doing the right thing and doing the safe thing.