Sam DeLuca, Former NY Jets
Radio Voice, Dies

Sam DeLuca, former radio voice of the New York Jets and TV analyst on NBC, died on September 13, 2011, of pancreatic cancer. He was 75.

DeLuca, a Brooklyn native who attended Lafayette High School and was friends with both Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax and Mets owner Fred Wilpon, was a former offensive guard who played with the Giants, Chargers and Jets, where he was named 2nd team All NFL .

A severe knee injury ended his career in 1967, but when a union strike prevented WABC Radio announcers Merle Harmon and Dick Young from calling Jets games, DeLuca was asked to fill-in. He made such a good impression that he was hired to work alongside Harmon, where he remained through the 1972 season.

DeLuca then joined NBC and spent three seasons (1973, ‘74 & ‘75) as a TV analyst, two of them alongside a young Al Michaels.

He later returned to the Jets radio booth and teamed with Spencer Ross from 1979 to 1985. DeLuca worked his final season in 1986 with current LA Dodgers radio voice Charley Steiner.