Deron Cherry

by Chad Hollingsworth
Love of Sports Correspondent

I was considering throwing in a lyric from Neil Diamond’s “Cherry Cherry” or Warrant’s “Cherry Pie”, but neither song provides justice (or the proper context) for one of the better safeties of recent years.

Deron Cherry grew up in New Jersey and played high school and college football there. He played strong safety and punter for Rutgers and was actually the team MVP in 1979. Unfortunately, this still was not enough to get Cherry drafted. He latched on with the Chiefs as a free agent in 1981.

The Chiefs cut Cherry before the regular season began, but brought him back as a safety in September. It’s scary to think the Chiefs almost lost one of the most talented defensive backs of the 1980s.

Cherry started out slow, appearing in 13 games and snagging one interception his rookie year. Cherry played in seven games during the 1982 season, with the players’ strike knocking the regular season down to nine games.

Once 1983 came around, though, Cherry hit the ground running and became a household name. He started all 16 of the Chiefs games, grabbed seven interceptions and forced two fumbles. He also had 1.5 sacks and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Cherry had another seven interception season in 1984, which earned him his first All-Pro selection to go with another Pro Bowl nod. Cherry also grabbed seven picks in 1985, with four of them coming in one game against the Seattle Seahawks. That season was also the only time Cherry returned one of his many interceptions for a touchdown.

His finest season was arguably in 1986, as Cherry earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. Cherry had a career-high nine interceptions to go with one sack. This season was also the first time Cherry got a taste of the postseason, but the Chiefs lost in the wild card round to the Miami Dolphins.

After a strike-marred 1987 season that limited him to three interceptions in only eight games, Cherry came back to his standard seven interception season in 1988 and recovered six fumbles as well.

In 1989, the hiring of Marty Schottenheimer and the additions of Neil Smith and Derrick Thomas made the Chiefs defense even better. Even though Cherry was in the twilight of his career, he still managed two interceptions and one sack.

The next two seasons saw the Chiefs qualify for the postseason and Cherry chipped in with seven total interceptions in those years. He retired after 1991 with 50 career picks (with one returned for a touchdown) and 3.5 sacks.

Cherry still devotes much of his time to charities such as the Special Olympics and the United Negro College Fund. He was also the recipient of the NFL Man of the Year Award in 1987.

A class act on and off the field, Cherry is certainly deserving of some OLD SCHOOL LOVE.

Perhaps the Chiefs can once again get lucky and find a guy that no one else wanted to help bring them back to respectability. It’s quite obvious that Cherry did his part during his Chiefs tenure.