{"id":74508,"date":"2025-06-30T06:24:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T06:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508"},"modified":"2025-06-30T06:24:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T06:24:57","slug":"breaking-chiefs-honor-former-star-player-who-lost-his-life-saving-3-children-gridiron-heroics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>The Kansas City Chiefs are honoring one of their own after some heroic efforts.\u00a0 The announcement took over social media with thousands of reactions and comments.\u00a0 Below are all the details.<\/p>\n<h3>Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children<\/h3>\n<figure id=\"attachment_283600\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-283600\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children 1\" src=\"https:\/\/gridironheroics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/USATSI_24433840-scaled-e1729105434178.webp\" alt=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - Gridiron Heroics\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-283600\">Oct 7, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a Kansas City Chiefs helmet against the New Orleans Saints during the second half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\" data-wt-guid=\"03138325-a28b-441b-88e7-22dff561ba23\">More than forty years have passed since Joe Delaney died tragically:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Only two years into his\u00a0NFL\u00a0career, the 1981 Pro Bowler selflessly sacrificed his life in an attempt to save three children from drowning in a man-made pond in Louisiana. He was just 24 years old.<\/p>\n<p>This June 29, and all the others before it, the Chiefs made sure to honor their fallen hero with a post to social media.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c42 years ago today, Joe Delaney tragically passed away a hero, attempting to save three children from drowning,\u201d the team\u00a0said\u00a0in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019ll never forget his sacrifice \u2764\ufe0f\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">42 years ago today, Joe Delaney tragically passed away a hero, attempting to save three children from drowning. We\u2019ll never forget his sacrifice \u2764\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/UdYk3XVJUM<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chiefs\/status\/1939319190692782475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1939319190692782475%7Ctwgr%5E0d3424b10fa28954dba0d03894b0a9c3714f6902%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgridironheroics.com%2Fchiefs-honor-joe-delaney-death-children%2F<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_193090\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-193090\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children 2\" src=\"https:\/\/gridironheroics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/USATSI_21632224-scaled-e1709148993402.jpg\" alt=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - Gridiron Heroics\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-193090\">Oct 12, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a Kansas City Chiefs helmet against then Denver Broncos prior to a game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote><p>Fans gathered in the comments to remember the UPI Rookie of the Year and a life and career gone way too soon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForever hero,\u201d Adam Schefter replied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn amazing guy, great player, and a huge heart!\u201d Pete Najarian added.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy Dad always brought up this man when I was growing up,\u201d a user shared. \u201cHe\u2019d talk about how great a player he was, and how he knew he was facing death because he couldn\u2019t swim, but chose to go after the\u00a0children\u00a0anyway. He\u2019s a true hero. One that fathers can tell their sons to aspire to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat an inspiration,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was just telling my wife about him a few days ago. Cannot believe it\u2019s been that long,\u201d a fan posted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy very first favorite Chiefs player \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc9b\u201d a fan commented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe could have been one of the best. I have no doubt Joe would be in the same conversation as the great running backs of the 80s,\u201d another person admitted. \u201cBut most importantly, he was a hero. And his name should be known to everyone who loves this game.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children 3\" src=\"https:\/\/thespun.com\/.image\/t_share\/MjE1NTUxNzc4NDI5NjA5MzI3\/usatsi_15448304.jpg\" alt=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - Gridiron Heroics\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" \/><figcaption>Jan 17, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; General view as the Kansas City Chiefs play against the Cleveland Browns during the secondhalf in the AFC Divisional Round playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote><p>Delaney\u2019s number resides in the Chiefs Ring of Honor where his heroism will live on forever at Arrowhead Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>May he continue to rest in peace.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_226459\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-226459\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children 4\" src=\"https:\/\/gridironheroics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/USATSI_17667854_168400517_lowres-e1720632517247.jpg\" alt=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - Gridiron Heroics\" width=\"1200\" height=\"893\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-226459\">Jan 30, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of a Kansas City Chiefs helmet against the Cincinnati Bengals before the AFC Championship game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Kansas City Chiefs are honoring one of their own after some heroic efforts.\u00a0 The announcement took over social media with thousands of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":74509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Kansas City Chiefs are honoring one of their own after some heroic efforts.\u00a0 The announcement took over social media with thousands of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News 365\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-30T06:24:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-30T06:24:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrLuu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508\",\"name\":\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - News 365\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-30T06:24:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-30T06:24:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"News 365\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6\",\"name\":\"MrLuu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrLuu\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - News 365","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - News 365","og_description":"The Kansas City Chiefs are honoring one of their own after some heroic efforts.\u00a0 The announcement took over social media with thousands of","og_url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508","og_site_name":"News 365","article_published_time":"2025-06-30T06:24:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-30T06:24:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MrLuu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrLuu","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508","name":"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children - News 365","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-30T06:24:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-30T06:24:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/106472976_10158499424158373_7610812633643200035_n.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=74508#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Breaking: Chiefs Honor Former Star Player Who Lost His Life Saving 3 Children"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/","name":"News 365","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0ce8eb15dad4ee0f31887a7eb66fb6","name":"MrLuu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27290e42aedd9867dbebe2f5dbfd5135e0d4cac63c12fabb4e8d0e4472737a5b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrLuu"},"url":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?author=6"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74508"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74511,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74508\/revisions\/74511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}