Although no NSU Demons were on the field Sunday at Super Bowl XLI, there were a couple of reasons it was a super Sunday for Northwestern.
In a pregame feature on Bears’ legends Brian Piccalo and Walter Payton, it was moving to hear Joe Delaney mentioned by Payton after he set the NFL career rushing record.
Talking to media after the game, asked about what it meant to him to break the record, “Sweetness” said (and I paraphrase): “I think about guys like Brian Piccalo, David Overstreet, Joe Delaney, who didn’t get the chance I’ve been given …”
Wow. Did you know that in his Pro Football Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Marv Levy spent time talking about Joe? The text of the speech is on the Hall of Fame’s website.
Also Sunday, Demon offensive line coach Jeremy Offutt was a proud fellow. Colts rookie offensive tackle Charlie Johnson got a lot of praise from CBS Sports analyst Phil Simms for his performance after being rushed into action to replace an injured starter.
Offutt coached Johnson in the 2005 season at Oklahoma State. Johnson was a tight end in 2004 and was moved to tackle, the position Offutt coached at his alma mater, in the spring of 2005.
Doug Ireland, SID
