Professional Career
Delaney was selected in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. United Press International named him Rookie of the Year of the American Football Conference for the 1981 NFL season after he rushed for 1,121 yards, set four club records, and averaged 80.9 yards a game. Delaney's effort helped propel the Chiefs to a 9–7 record, the team's first winning season since 1973. In his rookie season, he was selected to the Pro Bowl after setting Chiefs records for most yards in a season (1,121), most yards in a game (193 vs. Houston), most consecutive 100-yard-plus games (three) and most 100-yard games in a season (five).
After coming off the bench to record 101 rushing yards in his initial NFL action at New England, he ran for 106 yards and registered 104 receiving yards in his first professional start against Oakland. In the Chiefs' October 18, 1981 game against the Denver Broncos, Delaney broke loose for a 75-yard touchdown run, but an offside penalty caused the play to be restarted from five yards back. On the second play after the penalty, Delaney scored an 82-yard touchdown, the longest rushing play from scrimmage in the 1981 NFL season.
Following Delaney's record-setting 196 yard rushing performance against the Houston Oilers on November 15, 1981, Oilers defensive end (and future Pro Football Hall of Famer) Elvin Bethea was quoted in saying:
| “ | 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. | ” |
A strike by NFL players and an eye injury limited Delaney’s playing time in the 1982 NFL season. He underwent surgery to repair a detached retina, and only registered 380 rushing yards in the eight-game shortened season, which the Chiefs finished with a 3–6 record. Delaney averaged 4.6 yards per carry, 9.1 yards per reception, and registered 1,811 all-purpose yards during his career with three touchdowns.
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