‘Joe Delaney Day’ proclaimed in Kansas City, with further recognition in progress
Thirty-seven years after the haunting death of No. 37, Joe Delaney, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has proclaimed Oct. 30 “Joe Delaney Day” in Kansas City.
The date corresponds with the birthday of Delaney, the budding Chiefs star running back who was born 62 years ago and died in 1983 trying to save children drowning in Chennault Park, Louisiana.
The occasion is to honor what the proclamation calls Delaney’s “love of all humanity as evidenced by his final selfless act of bravery.” It also commemorates him for his “incredible heroism, his honorable valor and shining example he set for Kansas City and the entire Kansas City community at large.”
If it seems overdue, or out of nowhere, consider this: Since Delaney died as he lived, thinking of others, any reminder of him makes for a noble example to heed. And perhaps that’s particularly so in turbulent times like 2020, which Lucas called “a year from hell in a lot of ways.”
“People like Joe Delaney every day are making sacrifices for others,” Lucas, a lifelong Chiefs fan who has long admired Delaney’s legacy, said in a phone interview. “I hope we all live a little bit of that lesson.”
The proclamation was set in motion by Adam Jassey, a lifelong Chiefs fan who reached out to The Star after we went to Louisiana to cover the dedication of a new memorial to Delaney at the site of his death in June.
Jassey has lived his entire life in New York, but he was raised to be a Chiefs and Royals fan because his father went to medical school here at the Kansas City College of Osteopathy.
He was 9 when Delaney, his favorite player, died. Over the years, he’s remained invested in honoring Delaney, including joining with others to form “The 37 Forever Foundation.”
While Delaney is in the Chiefs Ring of Honor and Hall of Fame, and his jersey is unofficially retired, Jassey is among a group of people (myself included) who believe Delaney should be more widely and deeply enshrined here because of the sheer goodwill his life represents.
His email in July was a wish list of various ways to keep the memory of Delaney alive, with ideas ranging from naming a terminal for him at the new Kansas City International Airport to highways around the stadium in his name to a BBQ competition attached to Delaney’s name.
With what he called “Phase One” accounted for, suffice to say he is well-engaged in trying to make realities of other wishes that we’re not at liberty to elaborate on just now.
“There has been some encouraging progress made on some other major plans which will definitely bring about even more lasting recognition to Joe Delaney,” he wrote in an email. “There is considerable hope that in the near future, there will be some other exciting announcements made which will finally cement a long overdue legacy for Joe Delaney in Kansas City for many years to come.”
As it should be. Stay tuned.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 3:26 PM.