Perseverance Pays Off For UAlbany FCS Football's Eddie Delaney

One look at University at Albany red-shirt freshman Eddie Delaney and you'll see an ordinary college football player. Look closer and you'll see what Delaney's battled through is extraordinary.

A native of Holtsville, N.Y. on Long Island, Delaney was born without a left hand, his arm ends around the wrist. At age six, he was diagnosed with diabetes and he has to wear an insulin pump.

Through all that, he doesn't describe himself as handicapped, in fact, his parents Ed and Suzanne taught him at an early age that nothing could hold him back.
"I never even realized that people viewed it as a disadvantage because my parents said it's not," Delaney said. "Growing up, I was never held back by that."

Delaney earned Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week honors in only his second career start after totaling five tackles and breaking up two passes as the Great Danes defeated previously unbeaten Sacred Heart on Oct. 18.

While it was an injury to junior Tony Sparano that gave Delaney a shot in the starting role, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound Delaney has helped the Great Danes defense hold their opponents to 83.2 rushing yards per game over their past four games.
"I took it as my chance," said Delaney, who made nine tackles in Saturday's 27-3 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.). "I'm only a freshman, but this is my chance to show people I can play."

Delaney started his athletic career playing tee-ball as a youngster, but quickly turned his attention to football by age six. Growing up, Delaney looked up to professional baseball player Jim Abbott, who was also born without an arm and played 10 seasons in Major League Baseball. When he was still young, he went to Yankee Stadium to see Abbott pitch for the Yankees and thought it was the "coolest thing."
Delaney aspired to play college football after playing at Sachem East High School, but wasn't being recruited.

He remembered overhearing a Division III coach tell his father that if Ed had two hands, he'd probably be too talented to play there, but also that they were unsure he would be successful at the collegiate level.

While he was happy that they thought he could play at a higher level, he was also frustrated. "How would that change me being a defensive end, being a football player?" Delaney said. "I don't think having two hands would make me any different of a football player."

During his senior year of high school, he got a chance to meet Abbott at an event sponsored by the YES network. Delaney got a chance to tell Abbott how he inspired him while he was growing up. Still looking for a school, Delaney looked at UAlbany, where Tom Pandolf, someone he had played Pee Wee football with, was succeeding.
Delaney applied and was accepted to UAlbany, but he still hadn't heard anything from the Great Danes coaching staff.

He reached out to former offensive coordinator Pete Rossomando, who was the Long Island recruiter, and his highlight tape had never got there. Delaney sent out another copy and two days later, he got the call from Rossomando, the current coach at the University of New Haven, that he would get a preferred walk-on spot and he was on the team.

Coach Bob Ford was a little skeptical, but he had coached a student-athlete with one arm before in his days at Springfield College. Delaney was placed on the look-defense, pitting him against the varsity offense every day in practice.
"He took it on as a challenge, that he was going to get better in that process," Ford said. "If you really look at it like that, you do get better."
"I fed off that," Delaney said. "I took that as my chance to get better and I felt myself getting better every day."

A year later, the kid who showed up in Albany weighing less than 210 pounds, now is an integral part of the fierce run-stuffing UAlbany defense.

Following the graduation, of thee all-league players in Jon Volpe, Michael Dungey and Mark Sheehan, even Ford has been impressed with how his this group has played.
"I think it's a credit to Bill Banagan, our defensive line coach," Ford said.
The trio of Pandolf, Delaney and sophomore Mike Kelly, have helped UAlbany remain one of the toughest teams to run the ball against.

"We take a lot of pride in that," Delaney said. "That's our defensive philosophy to stop the run and make teams try to pass on us," Pandolf said. Pandolf thinks that the team has learned about how to deal with adversity, just from having a guy like Delaney on the team. "He's always at a disadvantage, but he doesn't let that affect him at all," Pandolf said. Delaney recently spoke with a high school student from Shenendehowa who lost his hand in a firecracker mishap, trying to teach him that nothing will hold you back unless you let it. "Everything I do, I feel I do to the best of my ability," Delaney said

By: Andrew Santillo