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 both high school and college football there as well.

He went on to play strong safety and punter for Rutgers and was voted the team MVP in 1979.

Unfortunately, this still wasn’t 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. He started out slow, appearing in 13 games and snagging one interception his rookie year. He then 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 began to establish himself into 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 his first trip to the Pro Bowl.

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

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

The next two seasons saw the Chiefs qualify for the playoffs, with Cherry chipping in with seven total interceptions (appropriate, eh?). He retired after 1991 with 50 career picks, one 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 and was the 1987 recipient of the NFL Man of the Year Award, which goes down as his most prized possession to date.

A class act on and off the field, Deron Cherry’s certainly deserving of some Old School Love from us today!

Perhaps the Chiefs can once again get lucky and find a guy no one else wanted to help bring them back to respectability.