Bill Demory, a former quarterback for the New York Jets who stepped in during Joe Namath‘s injury, has passed away at the age of 74.
The former athlete is best remembered for his temporary stint in New York when Namath suffered an injury, and he impressed in his tenure by leading the Jets to a 9-7 victory against the New England Patriots by setting up the game-winning field goal.
Following the game, Namath commended Demory‘s ability to stick to the game plan, praising the youngster by saying, “He didn’t turn the ball over and, in a game like this, you look for a young quarterback to make a bad handoff or mess up the snap. He did none of that.”
Demory’s football journey had began at the University of Arizona, where he played for three seasons and recorded 28 touchdown passes and his path to the Jets was an unexpected one.
While attending a general managers conference in Arizona, head coach Weeb Ewbank was shown footage of Demory in action. Impressed by what he saw, Ewbank signed him to the team in 1973.
At training camp, Demory was initially placed fifth on the quarterback depth chart. However, due to inconsistent performances from the quarterbacks ahead of him, he steadily climbed the ranks.
“I was a marginal quarterback at Arizona and ended up being in the right place at the right time with the Jets,” Demory recalled in a 2012 interview with the Observer-Dispatch.
Demory’s cause of death was, according to an online obituary, prostate cancer and Parkinson’s disease on February 14. He leaves behind his wife, four children, and 14 grandchildren.
Demory’s life beyond football
Demory also started games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos. However, his tenure with the Jets ended in 1975 when he was released. Ewbank attempted to secure a coaching position for Demory within the league, but no opportunities emerged.
After his football career, he pursued graduate studies in economics at the University of Iowa and went on to teach at Central Arizona College but despite his NFL background, he rarely discussed his playing days with students.
“My students really don’t know about my playing for the Jets, and I don’t bring it up on purpose,” Demory said in 2012. “It would be a distraction, I think,
“And I don’t want to waste any time in the classroom. If they should do a Google search on me to get the lowdown on my class, I would talk to them about my football days.”
