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Discussion in another thread made me think of Joe Delaney. I think he may have been the best back to ever come out of I-AA/FCS. Recall that Jackson State was not I-AA when Walter Payton played there. Joe Delaney played at Northwestern State; and he was BARELY I-AA. Northwestern State had a short stint in the top classification level. 1976 through 1979. In 1980 they went to I-AA; which I think was formed in 1978. 1980 was Delaney's senior year.

As you may know he was the 1981 AFC rookie of the year and made the pro bowl. 1982 was the strike season and he suffered a detached retina so he didn't see much action. Then during the following summer he drowned while trying to save some children who were in trouble in a pond...even though he couldn't swim. Here's a 20 some odd minute video on him if you feel like watching something touching while waiting for the championship game (skip the first 1:20 as it's Chief's Nation stuff):



By all accounts this was a great, great guy with a lot of talent.

JohnStOnge wrote:he suffered a detached retina so he didn't see much action

Well no shit, it would make it hard to see the action.

Delaney was a world class sprinter in college.

89Hen wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:he suffered a detached retina so he didn't see much action

Well no shit, it would make it hard to see the action.

JohnStOnge wrote:Discussion in another thread made me think of Joe Delaney. I think he may have been the best back to ever come out of I-AA/FCS.

Adrian Peterson. End of discussion.

[/thread]

Baldy wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:Discussion in another thread made me think of Joe Delaney. I think he may have been the best back to ever come out of I-AA/FCS.

Adrian Peterson. End of discussion.

[/thread]

Um no. That was Stump Mitchell. He had a better NFL career.

Spoiler: show

Baldy wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:Discussion in another thread made me think of Joe Delaney. I think he may have been the best back to ever come out of I-AA/FCS.

Adrian Peterson. End of discussion.

[/thread]

Ah, we're at that place again. I think NFL people would say Delaney was better. Way better. If you watch that video you'll notice he was being mentioned in the same breath as Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, and Gale Sayers. Even though Delaney came out in 1981...a long time ago...I think that if you asked NFL people if they'd rather have Joe Delaney in his prime or Georgia Southern's Adrian Peterson in his prime they'd say Joe Delaney in his prime and it wouldn't be a difficult choice. You ask NFL people who the best back to ever come out of I-AA/FCS then give them a list with Delaney on it and it's very possible they'd pick Delaney. If it wasn't him it'd probably be Brian Westbrook. It wouldn't be Peterson.

Give it a few years. It'll be David Johnson, and it won't be close.

clenz wrote:Give it a few years. It'll be David Johnson, and it won't be close.

I honestly suspect this will be the case.

JohnStOnge wrote:

Baldy wrote:



Adrian Peterson. End of discussion.

[/thread]

Ah, we're at that place again. I think NFL people would say Delaney was better. Way better. If you watch that video you'll notice he was being mentioned in the same breath as Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, and Gale Sayers. Even though Delaney came out in 1981...a long time ago...I think that if you asked NFL people if they'd rather have Joe Delaney in his prime or Georgia Southern's Adrian Peterson in his prime they'd say Joe Delaney in his prime and it wouldn't be a difficult choice. You ask NFL people who the best back to ever come out of I-AA/FCS then give them a list with Delaney on it and it's very possible they'd pick Delaney. If it wasn't him it'd probably be Brian Westbrook. It wouldn't be Peterson.

You sound like a SWAC fan. Touting all their former players NFL Hall of Fame credentials etc, but getting absolutely destroyed in college going up against far superior programs.

The fact of the matter is that Adrian Peterson was the best running back in the history of I-AA / FCS and it isn't even close. The statistics don't lie. 9145 yards rushing, 111 TD's 6.6 yards per carry, 160 yards per game, two Natonal Championships, on and on. When it comes to all time greats, it's AP then everyone else.

Baldy wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:
Ah, we're at that place again. I think NFL people would say Delaney was better. Way better. If you watch that video you'll notice he was being mentioned in the same breath as Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders, and Gale Sayers. Even though Delaney came out in 1981...a long time ago...I think that if you asked NFL people if they'd rather have Joe Delaney in his prime or Georgia Southern's Adrian Peterson in his prime they'd say Joe Delaney in his prime and it wouldn't be a difficult choice. You ask NFL people who the best back to ever come out of I-AA/FCS then give them a list with Delaney on it and it's very possible they'd pick Delaney. If it wasn't him it'd probably be Brian Westbrook. It wouldn't be Peterson.

You sound like a SWAC fan. Touting all their former players NFL Hall of Fame credentials etc, but getting absolutely destroyed in college going up against far superior programs.

The fact of the matter is that Adrian Peterson was the best running back in the history of I-AA / FCS and it isn't even close. The statistics don't lie. 9145 yards rushing, 111 TD's 6.6 yards per carry, 160 yards per game, two Natonal Championships, on and on. When it comes to all time greats, it's AP then everyone else.

Tough to argue.

And even if another back like Johnson has a better NFL career they will still only be the best back to come out of FCS.

clenz wrote:Give it a few years. It'll be David Johnson, and it won't be close.

If it's best NFL career for a back out of FCS/I-AA, give it 5 seconds, it's not even close now. Johnson is better than Delaney was. Delaney was a great back, but Johnson is just far and away that much better.

Year 2 for each player, 15 games each.
Johnson 1233 yards rushing, 16 TD's, 77 receptions for 841 yards.
Delaney 1121 yards rushing 3 TD's, 22 receptions for 246 yards.

Johnson had better stats his rookie year too, but Delaney only played a half a season.

As a Bison fan, it just looked like Farley didn't use Johnson to his best ability.

Gil Dobie wrote:

clenz wrote:Give it a few years. It'll be David Johnson, and it won't be close.

If it's best NFL career for a back out of FCS/I-AA, give it 5 seconds, it's not even close now. Johnson is better than Delaney was. Delaney was a great back, but Johnson is just far and away that much better.

Year 2 for each player, 15 games each.
Johnson 1233 yards rushing, 16 TD's, 77 receptions for 841 yards.
Delaney 1121 yards rushing 3 TD's, 22 receptions for 246 yards.

Johnson had better stats his rookie year too, but Delaney only played a half a season.

As a Bison fan, it just looked like Farley didn't use Johnson to his best ability.

DJ didn't start until week 12 of his rookie season.

I think Formosa Jones has a better case than this no name fella.

Gil Dobie wrote:

clenz wrote:Give it a few years. It'll be David Johnson, and it won't be close.

If it's best NFL career for a back out of FCS/I-AA, give it 5 seconds, it's not even close now. Johnson is better than Delaney was. Delaney was a great back, but Johnson is just far and away that much better.

Year 2 for each player, 15 games each.
Johnson 1233 yards rushing, 16 TD's, 77 receptions for 841 yards.
Delaney 1121 yards rushing 3 TD's, 22 receptions for 246 yards.

Johnson had better stats his rookie year too, but Delaney only played a half a season.

As a Bison fan, it just looked like Farley didn't use Johnson to his best ability.

I don't even know what you're looking at. Delaney's second year was the strike season and he also had a detached retina. He only had 95 carries.

In his rookie season Delaney had 1,121 yards rushing as compared to Johnson's 581.

Look, I know Johnson is good. But I don't think there's any way any NFL people would say he's at the level Joe Delaney was when he came out.

JohnStOnge wrote:

Gil Dobie wrote:
If it's best NFL career for a back out of FCS/I-AA, give it 5 seconds, it's not even close now. Johnson is better than Delaney was. Delaney was a great back, but Johnson is just far and away that much better.

Year 2 for each player, 15 games each.
Johnson 1233 yards rushing, 16 TD's, 77 receptions for 841 yards.
Delaney 1121 yards rushing 3 TD's, 22 receptions for 246 yards.

Johnson had better stats his rookie year too, but Delaney only played a half a season.

As a Bison fan, it just looked like Farley didn't use Johnson to his best ability.

I don't even know what you're looking at. Delaney's second year was the strike season and he also had a detached retina. He only had 95 carries.

In his rookie season Delaney had 1,121 yards rushing as compared to Johnson's 581.

Look, I know Johnson is good. But I don't think there's any way any NFL people would say he's at the level Joe Delaney was when he came out.

I reversed the yearly stats by mistake for Delaney's career. Johnson is still far and away better IMO. That is not meant to be demeaning to Delaney, Johnson is just that good.

JohnStOnge wrote:

Gil Dobie wrote:
If it's best NFL career for a back out of FCS/I-AA, give it 5 seconds, it's not even close now. Johnson is better than Delaney was. Delaney was a great back, but Johnson is just far and away that much better.

Year 2 for each player, 15 games each.
Johnson 1233 yards rushing, 16 TD's, 77 receptions for 841 yards.
Delaney 1121 yards rushing 3 TD's, 22 receptions for 246 yards.

Johnson had better stats his rookie year too, but Delaney only played a half a season.

As a Bison fan, it just looked like Farley didn't use Johnson to his best ability.

I don't even know what you're looking at. Delaney's second year was the strike season and he also had a detached retina. He only had 95 carries.

In his rookie season Delaney had 1,121 yards rushing as compared to Johnson's 581.

Look, I know Johnson is good. But I don't think there's any way any NFL people would say he's at the level Joe Delaney was when he came out.

Johnson wasn't the feature back until week 12 of his rookie season.

Since he took over as the feature back there isn't a player in the NFL with more yards, first downs gained, touchdowns, points scored (non-kicker), no running back has more receptions or recieving yards.

He holds the record for most games with at least 100 total yards to start a season - 15
He is tied for the longest streak in NFL history with at least 100 yards - 15
He holds the Cardinals franchise record for touchdowns in a season
He holds the Cardinals franchise record for rushing touchdowns in a season
He is the first Cardinal player to ever have more than 2,000 all purpose yards in a season.
He has 33 touchdowns in 31 games. Only three players have ever done that - Jim Brown, Gale Sayers and Edgerrin James
He holds the NFL record for most multi TD games through 2 seasons
He is the first player in NFL history to have a KO return for a TD, a rush TD and a receiving TD in his first two games of his career.
He is within reach of becoming just the third player in NFL history to have at least 1,000 yards rushing AND recieving in a single season


Essentially, David Johnson has been the best player in the NFL since he joined the league, and that includes starting just 5 games as rookie.

I know that's hard for you to admit, because he isn't one of your "southern boys"...but it's true

JohnStOnge wrote:

Gil Dobie wrote:
If it's best NFL career for a back out of FCS/I-AA, give it 5 seconds, it's not even close now. Johnson is better than Delaney was. Delaney was a great back, but Johnson is just far and away that much better.

Year 2 for each player, 15 games each.
Johnson 1233 yards rushing, 16 TD's, 77 receptions for 841 yards.
Delaney 1121 yards rushing 3 TD's, 22 receptions for 246 yards.

Johnson had better stats his rookie year too, but Delaney only played a half a season.

As a Bison fan, it just looked like Farley didn't use Johnson to his best ability.

I don't even know what you're looking at. Delaney's second year was the strike season and he also had a detached retina. He only had 95 carries.

Doesn't matter. Johnson has had a better NFL career and was thus the better FCS player.

Since David's first start - week 13 last season - he has 2,732 yards from scrimmage


No other player in the NFL even has 2,000 over that same time frame. Not one.

kalm wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:
I don't even know what you're looking at. Delaney's second year was the strike season and he also had a detached retina. He only had 95 carries.

Doesn't matter. Johnson has had a better NFL career and was thus the better FCS player.

There's no doubt Johnson has had the better NFL career, but, on it's face, that is a ridiculous statement.

Baldy wrote:

kalm wrote:
Doesn't matter. Johnson has had a better NFL career and was thus the better FCS player.

There's no doubt Johnson has had the better NFL career, but, on it's face, that is a ridiculous statement.

Sarcasm from the Kupp conversation there, Slappy.

Hell, David Johnson was the better college back....

Playing against better defenses.

Delaney never had more than 945 yards in a season. He never had more than 9 TDs in a season. He never had more than 21 catches in a season. Never had more than 174 yards receiving. Never had more than 1 recieving TD. Hell, he only clipped 1,000 total yards in a season once.

Meanwhile, using DJ's final three years on campus (Delaney only played 3) DJ never:
- had less than 1,21 yards (1,021, 1,286 and 1,553)
- averaged less than 5.4 YPC (a threshold Delaney only hit once)
- had less than 10 rushing TDs (13, 10, 17)
- never had less than 32 catches (Delaney didn't have that in a career)
- had less than 383 receiving yards (Delaney didn't have half that in his best year)
- had less than 14 total TDs (Delaney had as many career TDs as DJ had his senior year)


Hell, even returning kicks it wasn't close. Delany averaged 17.9 yards per return. DJ averaged 36.5 yards per return.

clenz wrote:Hell, David Johnson was the better college back....

Playing against better defenses.

Delaney never had more than 945 yards in a season. He never had more than 9 TDs in a season. He never had more than 21 catches in a season. Never had more than 174 yards receiving. Never had more than 1 recieving TD. Hell, he only clipped 1,000 total yards in a season once.

Meanwhile, using DJ's final three years on campus (Delaney only played 3) DJ never:
- had less than 1,21 yards (1,021, 1,286 and 1,553)
- averaged less than 5.4 YPC (a threshold Delaney only hit once)
- had less than 10 rushing TDs (13, 10, 17)
- never had less than 32 catches (Delaney didn't have that in a career)
- had less than 383 receiving yards (Delaney didn't have half that in his best year)
- had less than 14 total TDs (Delaney had as many career TDs as DJ had his senior year)


Hell, even returning kicks it wasn't close. Delany averaged 17.9 yards per return. DJ averaged 36.5 yards per return.

Johnson should have had more yards and more touches, IMO, than he got at UNI.

clenz wrote:Hell, David Johnson was the better college back....

Playing against better defenses.

Delaney never had more than 945 yards in a season. He never had more than 9 TDs in a season. He never had more than 21 catches in a season. Never had more than 174 yards receiving. Never had more than 1 recieving TD. Hell, he only clipped 1,000 total yards in a season once.

Meanwhile, using DJ's final three years on campus (Delaney only played 3) DJ never:
- had less than 1,21 yards (1,021, 1,286 and 1,553)
- averaged less than 5.4 YPC (a threshold Delaney only hit once)
- had less than 10 rushing TDs (13, 10, 17)
- never had less than 32 catches (Delaney didn't have that in a career)
- had less than 383 receiving yards (Delaney didn't have half that in his best year)
- had less than 14 total TDs (Delaney had as many career TDs as DJ had his senior year)


Hell, even returning kicks it wasn't close. Delany averaged 17.9 yards per return. DJ averaged 36.5 yards per return.

Doesn't matter, Delaney looked like he was going to be the better NFL player.

Gil Dobie wrote:

clenz wrote:Hell, David Johnson was the better college back....

Playing against better defenses.

Delaney never had more than 945 yards in a season. He never had more than 9 TDs in a season. He never had more than 21 catches in a season. Never had more than 174 yards receiving. Never had more than 1 recieving TD. Hell, he only clipped 1,000 total yards in a season once.

Meanwhile, using DJ's final three years on campus (Delaney only played 3) DJ never:
- had less than 1,21 yards (1,021, 1,286 and 1,553)
- averaged less than 5.4 YPC (a threshold Delaney only hit once)
- had less than 10 rushing TDs (13, 10, 17)
- never had less than 32 catches (Delaney didn't have that in a career)
- had less than 383 receiving yards (Delaney didn't have half that in his best year)
- had less than 14 total TDs (Delaney had as many career TDs as DJ had his senior year)


Hell, even returning kicks it wasn't close. Delany averaged 17.9 yards per return. DJ averaged 36.5 yards per return.

Johnson should have had more yards and more touches, IMO, than he got at UNI.

For god damn sure.

Through the first 6 games of his senior season he was averaging, I shit you not, 9 carries and 14 total touches per game. Why? Who fucking knows why Farley insists on doing the dumb fucking shit he does.

Shockingly, after that he went up to 29 touches per game. It probably had something to do with the fact Farley was trying to run a 2 QB system with a QB who had 7 concussions and another one with a 45% completion percentage for his career. The team sitting at 2-4 and the fan base completely turning against him.

Once DJ went to 29 touches per game UNI won 7 in a row before falling to NDSU in the playoffs to national runner up Illinois State (who UNI had beat by 14 earlier in the season).

Yeah. Farley's handling of the offense the last 7 years has left many UNI fans feeling he needs to be done coaching at UNI. DJ should have had as many 2,000 yard seasons as Zenner, plus all the receiving stats. DJ was a better college back than Zenner (not even close) but the stats won't show it because Farley didn't want to "Wear DJ out". The man is a fucking cyborg. That doesn't happen.