- Deron Cherry
-
Deron Cherry Position(s)
SafetyJersey #(s)
20Born September 12, 1959
Riverside, New JerseyCareer information Year(s) 1981–1991 Undrafted in 1981 College Rutgers Professional teams Career stats INT 50 INT yards 688 Touchdowns 1 Stats at NFL.com Career highlights and awards - 6x Pro Bowl Selection (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988)
- Associated Press First-team All-Pro selection (x3) (1984, 1986, 1988)
- Associated Press Second-team All-Pro selection (x2) (1983, 1985)
- 1986 NFL 101 AFC Defensive Player of the Year
- NFL 1980s All-Decade Team
Deron Leigh Cherry (born September 12, 1959) is a retired professional American football strong safety who played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1981 to 1991. Deron was a free safety and punter at Rutgers University. In 1979, he was named the team’s MVP. In 1979 and 1980, Cherry earned AP All-East honors. In 1981, he signed by the Kansas City Chiefs, as a free agent punter, but was released in the final cutdown. Deron rejoined the club in late September as a safety, and made his first interception in October against the Oakland Raiders.
Cherry played high school football at Palmyra High School in Palmyra, New Jersey.[1]
NFL career
Regarded as one of the finest free safeties to have ever played the game, he was a six-time Pro Bowl selection from 1983–1988, starting in five of them in his 11 years with the Chiefs. Few other Chiefs players, including Derrick Thomas, Will Shields, and Willie Lanier, have been selected to this number of Pro Bowls. He had six 100 tackle seasons in his eleven years as a member of the Chiefs. He was a 5 time All-Pro in 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1988. He was also a five time 1st team All-AFC and two time 2nd team All-AFC selection. Cherry's 15 career fumble recoveries place him in a three-way tie for the Chiefs record. He ranks third on the Chiefs list of most interceptions, and is only the 26th player in the history of the NFL to reach the 50 interception plateau. In 1987, he was selected to the Chiefs 25 year All-Time Team.
In 1988, he won the Byron White Humanitarian Award for service to his team, community, and country. Prior to receiving this award, he was the Chiefs NFL Man of the Year selection in 1987. This is the most prestigious award given by the NFL Players Association. He is actively involved in several civic organizations, including Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Project Warmth, and the United Negro College Fund. Cherry is a frequent guest speaker at civic, charitable, and corporate events throughout the country.
In 1995, Cherry became a limited ownership partner in one of the NFL’s new expansion teams, the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has been very pleased with the team’s success since entering the National Football League just a few years ago. Cherry is also a managing general partner with United Beverage, a local Anheuser-Busch distributor.
References
- ^ Deron Cherry, Database Football. Accessed January 24, 2008.
Byron "Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year Award 1966: Starr • 1967: Davis • 1968: Meador • 1969: Sayers • 1970: Alexander • 1971: May • 1972: Russell • 1973: Little • 1974: Bleier • 1975: Hart • 1976: Alzado • 1977: Manning • 1978: Staubach • 1979: Upshaw • 1980: Houston • 1981: Harris • 1982: Dieken • 1983: Benirschke • 1984: Williams • 1985: Moore • 1986: Martin • 1987: Cherry • 1988: Singletary • 1989: Newsome • 1990: Kenn • 1991: R. White • 1992: Lowery • 1993: Kelso • 1994: Thomas • 1995: Brooks • 1996: Zorich • 1997: Nickerson • 1998: Carter • 1999: Pelfrey • 2000: McCrary • 2001: Brunell • 2002: Vincent • 2003: Brooks • 2004: Manning • 2005: McNair • 2006: Lynch • 2007: Dunn • 2008: Dawkins • 2009: Asomugha • 2010: Richardson
Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame 1970: Lamar Hunt • 1971: Mack Lee Hill • 1972: Jerry Mays • 1973: Fred Arbanas • 1974: Johnny Robinson • 1975: Chris Burford • 1976: E.J. Holub • 1977: Jim Tyrer • 1978: Mike Garrett • 1979: Len Dawson • 1980: Bobby Bell • 1981: Buck Buchanan • 1982: Otis Taylor • 1984: Ed Budde • 1985: Willie Lanier • 1986: Emmitt Thomas • 1987: Hank Stram • 1988: Jerrel Wilson • 1989: Ed Podolak • 1990: Jim Lynch • 1991: Abner Haynes • 1992: Jan Stenerud • 1993: Sherrill Headrick • 1994: Jack Rudnay • 1995: Curtis McClinton • 1996: Deron Cherry • 1997: Dave Hill • 1998: Art Still • 1999: Lloyd Burruss • 2000: Christian Okoye • 2001: Derrick Thomas • 2002: John Alt • 2003: Gary Spani • 2004: Joe Delaney • 2005: Jack Steadman • 2006: Neil Smith • 2007: Albert Lewis • 2008: Curley Culp • 2009: Nick Lowery • 2010: Marty Schottenheimer
National Football League | NFL's 1980s All-Decade Team Joe Montana | Dan Fouts | Walter Payton | Eric Dickerson | Roger Craig | John Riggins | Jerry Rice | Steve Largent | James Lofton | Art Monk | Kellen Winslow | Ozzie Newsome | Anthony Muñoz | Jim Covert | Gary Zimmerman | Joe Jacoby | John Hannah | Russ Grimm | Bill Fralic | Mike Munchak | Dwight Stephenson | Mike Webster | Reggie White | Howie Long | Lee Roy Selmon | Bruce Smith | Randy White | Dan Hampton | Keith Millard | Dave Butz | Mike Singletary | Lawrence Taylor | Ted Hendricks | Jack Lambert | Andre Tippett | John Anderson | Carl Banks | Mike Haynes | Mel Blount | Frank Minnifield | Lester Hayes | Ronnie Lott | Kenny Easley | Deron Cherry | Joey Browner | Nolan Cromwell | Sean Landeta | Reggie Roby | Morten Andersen | Gary Anderson | Eddie Murray | Billy Johnson | John Taylor | Mike Nelms | Rick Upchurch | Bill Walsh | Chuck Noll
Categories:- 1959 births
- Living people
- People from Burlington County, New Jersey
- American football safeties
- Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players
- Undrafted National Football League players
- Kansas City Chiefs players
- Ed Block Courage Award recipients
- American Conference Pro Bowl players
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