Bill Dely, a former field marshal of the New York Jets in the 1970s, died earlier this month, according to an online obituary. He was 74 years old.
Dely fought prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease, according to Az Central. The obituary said he died “peacefully” on February 14.
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He was born in Iowa, but moved to Arizona with his family when he was young and attended high school in Phoenix. He attended the University of Arizona and was a field marshal for the Wildcats for three seasons before becoming a professional.
In 27 university games, Deory had 3,268 aerial yards and 28 TouchDown passes. Arizona didn’t have a winning record when I was there.
New York Jets Helmets during the second half against the Carolina Panthers at the Bank of America stadium. (Jim Dedmon-USA Today Sports)
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He joined the Jets in 1973 and began in three of the six games he played. He had 159 air yards, two TouchDown passes and eight interceptions that season. He was in a field Marshal room that included Al Woodall and Joe Namath. New York ended 4-10 that season.
In 1974, the jets were 7-7 with Namath leading the load. Dely never saw the field.
Arizona Central said that before Nick Foles began a game at the NFL, Deory was one of the three quartbacks who played in Arizona and began a NFL game. Eddie Wilson and Fred Enke were the other two.
Later, Dely was an economy professor at Arizona Western and Central de Arizona College from 1999 to 2016 and attached teacher at Table Community College from 1998 to 2024.
His wife, two sons, two daughters, 14 grandchildren, two stepdaughter and his brother survive.
