AJKCFAN
09-26-2004, 06:19 AM
http://www.thenewsstar.com/sports/html/90C77B89-C60E-4539-B602-2CD0A94F114A.shtml
Delaney to get award
Chiefs will place ex-RB in team's Ring of Fame
Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
September 26, 2004
Former AFC rookie of the year Joe Delaney - who died in 1983 trying to save two local boys from drowning in a Chennault Park swimming hole - will be posthumously honored today during the Kansas City Chief's Hall of Fame weekend.
Organizers of the grass-roots effort to attain this honor for Delaney say coverage of the 20th anniversary of his drowning in June 2003 - including a multi-piece package in The News-Star and an ESPN feature that included information from the paper's original news coverage - helped make today's ceremony a reality.
"This effort to get Joe Delaney his long-awaited recognition from the Chiefs began with just a simple belief that Delaney was a forgotten hero," said Adam Jassey, founder of 37 Forever, a group named after Delaney's jersey number in Kansas City that promotes swimming programs. "His brilliant contributions, however brief they were on the field, combined with his amazing contributions in life off the field, had to be honored by the Chiefs. It just had to be pursued."
Delaney, a Haughton native who became a two-sport All-American at Northwestern State, joins the Chiefs' Ring of Fame today during halftime of the Kansas City game against Houston. His wife Carolyn and other family members will attend, along with former Louisiana Tech coach A.L. Williams, who had mentored Delaney at NSU.
Delaney is already a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. The NSU football team's permanent team captains, voted by the players each year, receive the Joe Delaney Leadership Awards. The university's spring football game is also called the Delaney Bowl.
Jassey's group will celebrate the induction during its fourth annual 37 Forever Foundation banquet, to be held on Monday at the Arrowhead Club inside the stadium. Proceeds help benefit the American Red Cross' Learn to Swim program.
The announcement that Delaney would join the Chiefs Ring of Fame was made in March during a team awards banquet attended by Jassey. There, he got to meet Delaney's widow and other family members for the first time. Chiefs' owner Lamar Hunt spoke at the event.
"Initially, my feelings were numb!" Jassey said of an honor decades in the making. "I mean, it happened. It really, really happened."
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About Joe Delaney
On the 20th anniversary of Joe Delaney's drowning in Monroe in June 2003, The News-Star began a series of stories on his life and death. The series would become one of the newspaper's most-honored.
The lead story in the package won first-place awards for series enterprise from both the Louisiana Press Association and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. An editorial included with the package also took the top LPA award.
One of two columns on Delaney by Nick Deriso was part of an entry that earned him columnist of the year honors from the LSWA. Finally, The News-Star received a first-place award for sports coverage in parent company Gannett's Well Done contest for the package.
ŠThe News-Star
September 26, 2004
Delaney to get award
Chiefs will place ex-RB in team's Ring of Fame
Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
September 26, 2004
Former AFC rookie of the year Joe Delaney - who died in 1983 trying to save two local boys from drowning in a Chennault Park swimming hole - will be posthumously honored today during the Kansas City Chief's Hall of Fame weekend.
Organizers of the grass-roots effort to attain this honor for Delaney say coverage of the 20th anniversary of his drowning in June 2003 - including a multi-piece package in The News-Star and an ESPN feature that included information from the paper's original news coverage - helped make today's ceremony a reality.
"This effort to get Joe Delaney his long-awaited recognition from the Chiefs began with just a simple belief that Delaney was a forgotten hero," said Adam Jassey, founder of 37 Forever, a group named after Delaney's jersey number in Kansas City that promotes swimming programs. "His brilliant contributions, however brief they were on the field, combined with his amazing contributions in life off the field, had to be honored by the Chiefs. It just had to be pursued."
Delaney, a Haughton native who became a two-sport All-American at Northwestern State, joins the Chiefs' Ring of Fame today during halftime of the Kansas City game against Houston. His wife Carolyn and other family members will attend, along with former Louisiana Tech coach A.L. Williams, who had mentored Delaney at NSU.
Delaney is already a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame. The NSU football team's permanent team captains, voted by the players each year, receive the Joe Delaney Leadership Awards. The university's spring football game is also called the Delaney Bowl.
Jassey's group will celebrate the induction during its fourth annual 37 Forever Foundation banquet, to be held on Monday at the Arrowhead Club inside the stadium. Proceeds help benefit the American Red Cross' Learn to Swim program.
The announcement that Delaney would join the Chiefs Ring of Fame was made in March during a team awards banquet attended by Jassey. There, he got to meet Delaney's widow and other family members for the first time. Chiefs' owner Lamar Hunt spoke at the event.
"Initially, my feelings were numb!" Jassey said of an honor decades in the making. "I mean, it happened. It really, really happened."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
About Joe Delaney
On the 20th anniversary of Joe Delaney's drowning in Monroe in June 2003, The News-Star began a series of stories on his life and death. The series would become one of the newspaper's most-honored.
The lead story in the package won first-place awards for series enterprise from both the Louisiana Press Association and the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. An editorial included with the package also took the top LPA award.
One of two columns on Delaney by Nick Deriso was part of an entry that earned him columnist of the year honors from the LSWA. Finally, The News-Star received a first-place award for sports coverage in parent company Gannett's Well Done contest for the package.
ŠThe News-Star
September 26, 2004