14th of a Series...

There are few figures more mysterious than Emmett Delaney in the history of football in Ashtabula County.

Today, black athletes are a huge part of the football landscape, but 50 years, in Delaney’s day, especially in Ashtabula County, there were few, if any, participating in football programs.

There is evidence that Delaney, if not the first, was among the first prominent black athletes in Ashtabula County. Unfortunately, little is known about him after he left the county shortly after graduation from Jefferson High School in 1958.

What makes Delaney even more of a mystery is that few of his high school classmates kept in contact with him after his family left the community. All that is known of him is that he died somewhere between 1988 and 1990 of cancer. Efforts to locate any of his relatives have been futile to this point.

Delaney seemed to appear out of nowhere in the fall of 1954 at Jefferson High School, coming to the school system from Cleveland. Actually, according to school records, it appears that he entered Jefferson Local Schools in the sixth grade in 1952.

About his athletic skills there is little doubt, however. From the moment he stepped on the football field for the Falcons of coach John Strycula, he was an impact player.

Even as a freshman, surrounded by fine players like Chuck Naso and Bill Ollila, Delaney was a huge contributor to the team’s drive to a share of its first Western Reserve League championship with Perry in 1954. He provided a lot of the power running that made the passing attack Strycula mounted with Ollila at quarterback and Naso at receiver so effective as the Falcons compiled a 6-1-1 record.

The Falcons struggled during his sophomore and junior seasons to 2-5-1 records, but Delaney remained a key component on Strycula’s last two teams.

By the time his senior season of 1957 rolled around, Delaney was the main man, a welcome foundation around which first-year coach Ron Butcher could build. Delaney delivered, too, helping the Falcons to a 5-3 record. It would be Jefferson’s last winning season for seven years.

Fortunately, the words of several of Delaney’s teammates and his old coach speak to his credentials. They have spoken loudly enough to earn his selection into the Class of 2008 into the Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame, which will be inducted at 6 p.m. Monday at the 39th annual Ashtabula County Touchdown Club Awards Banquet.

“Emmett provided the strength for our football team,” Naso, a 1956 Jefferson graduate who was the school’s first inductee into the Ashtabula County Football Hall of Fame and the first man to earn selection to the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame as well, said. “He helped make us as good a football team as we were.

“He was an excellent football player, especially to start for our team as a freshman. He was a bull of a runner. Emmett reminded me a lot of John Henry Martin, who I played with at Kent State.

“Emmett was also a very good teammate and a great person,” Naso said. “He definitely deserves to be a Hall of Famer.”