Jack A Deloplaine was an American professional football player who was a running back for four seasons in the National Football League.
24 Facts About Jack Deloplaine
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Jack Deloplaine played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Redskins, and Chicago Bears from 1976 to 1979, having earlier played college football for the Salem Tigers.
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Jack Deloplaine attended Pottstown Senior High School in his hometown.
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Jack Deloplaine then studied at Salem College, where he played for the Salem Tigers.
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Jack Deloplaine led the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in scoring in 1975 with 22 touchdowns in 11 games for a total of 132 points.
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Jack Deloplaine was conferred the Hardman Award in 1975, after being recognized as best amateur athlete in West Virginia by the state's sports writers association.
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Jack Deloplaine was honored as an NAIA All-American and named the team's offensive most valuable player that same year.
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Jack Deloplaine was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 1976 NFL draft, becoming the first player from Salem to be drafted into the NFL.
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Jack Deloplaine gained the nickname "Hydroplane" from Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope, because of his running ability in wet conditions during training camp prior to the 1976 season.
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Jack Deloplaine suffered a knee injury in the last game of his rookie season against the Houston Oilers, which precipitated injuries in the following seasons, and underwent surgery in the offseason.
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Jack Deloplaine won two Super Bowl rings when the Steelers emerged victorious in the Super Bowl XIII and Super Bowl XIV.
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Jack Deloplaine had earlier been placed on waivers before the 1978 season and was claimed by the Washington Redskins.
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Jack Deloplaine played just two games with the franchise, before being waived again and claimed back by the Steelers.
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Jack Deloplaine played ten regular season games with the team in 1978, with the three playoff games netting him an extra $32,000 in income.
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Jack Deloplaine played five games for the team before rejoining the Steelers, becoming the only player to be cut by Chuck Noll and later re-acquired at the time.
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Jack Deloplaine intended to continue playing football with the semi-professional Pittsburgh Wolfpack.
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Jack Deloplaine signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in early June 1980, after NFL teams mistakenly concluded that he had retired.
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Jack Deloplaine signed with the newly established Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League in January 1984, but retired at the end of that same month before the start of the 1984 season.
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Jack Deloplaine was inducted into the Salem University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.
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Jack Deloplaine was a member of his hometown's sports hall of fame.
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Jack Deloplaine headed a strength and conditioning program at North Catholic High School, and served as running backs coach at Pine-Richland High School.
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Jack Deloplaine often attended Steelers games and was invited to the team's final game at Three Rivers Stadium in 2000.
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Jack Deloplaine played in charity basketball events hosted by the Steelers and featured as a guest on the television special Kenny Rogers' America and at the Special Olympics.
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Jack Deloplaine died on August 2,2022, at the age of 68.