Quiet Delvin Miller was a standout athlete at Monessen

By Jeff Oliver

MVI Sports

News of the death of one of my childhood friends and fellow Monessen Class of 1976 member, Delvin Miller, came pretty much like he lived his life.

Quietly without any fanfare.

Delvin died Friday at the all-too-young age of 62.

As well and as long as I knew Delvin, I can honestly say I rarely ever heard more than one or two sentences out of him in any given conversation we had.

From the time he was a kid, Delvin was a person of few words and many actions.

In my eyes, he is one of the greatest athletes to come out of Monessen that few outside of the community ever heard of.

That’s because he always seemed to be a complimentary piece on some great teams in football and basketball. He was also a standout baseball player and ran track for the Greyhounds, garnering all-state honors in more than one sport.

Delvin played in a Greyhounds backfield at Monessen that, in two years, had five Division I players in it, including Joe Como, JoJo Heath, Bob Rechichar (Pitt) and Gene Gladys (Penn State).

The fifth D-I athlete?

Why, it was Miller, himself. He received a scholarship to the University of Kansas where he went on to have a stellar grid career.

In basketball, he was also extremely talented. But he again played second fiddle to Heath and Bob Yakovac.

There was never any doubt in my mind that on any other team, Delvin could have rushed for 1,500 yards and averaged 25 points per game. He was that gifted, that versatile. He had star quality and was a coach’s dream.

He always seemed to be the perfect sidekick for his close friend Heath from the time they played youth football for the Lincoln Daredevils in the old Monessen Midget Football League. Delvin played quarterback and JoJo was the halfback and they were pretty much unstoppable then on the option sweep.

Unlike most of today’s athletes who long for the spotlight and the glory, Delvin enjoyed doing his thing outside of the limelight.

Quiet and unassuming, he returned to dabble in coaching at Monessen over the years. I remember telling him a few years ago he should tell the players about his career and maybe they would try to follow in his footsteps.

“Naw,” he shrugged. “These kids don’t know.”

And then he laughed.

That was Delvin Miller.

I remember how one high school radio sportscaster dubbed him, “the Quiet Assassin” for the way he played the game of basketball.

In basketball, he was smooth as silk.

In football, he was fleet and fluid.

In baseball, he was poetry in motion.

In track, he was blazing.

In life, he was quiet and caring.

Even though the most I often got out of him was a “What’s up, Todd?” when we were together (Todd is my middle name and many of my childhood friends used that name for me), I have a lot of memorable moments of my life that include him.

In Bronco Baseball, he was one of the best pitchers and shortstops around and I’ll never forget the time he beaned me in a game. It hurt like heck and he apologized for the pitch after the game.

I met his lovely mate and future wife, Marsha, at Three Rivers Stadium in 1972 when they sat directly behind me in the stands when we watched the infamous WPIAL playoff game with Jeannette that ended in a tie, but the Jayhawks were declared the winner because of more total yards.

We both spent some time playing softball in Monessen and we got together at class reunions and, of course, we often chatted when he was coaching football for the Greyhounds.

And all those years I came to accept “What’s up Todd?” and a chuckle and smile as a decent conversation with Delvin.

But as quiet as he was, he left a huge imprint on Monessen sports and those who were lucky enough to know him.

One thing I can say is I don’t know anyone who ever had a bad thing to say about Delvin.

I am sad that our paths won’t cross again on this Earth.

Delvin was the kind of person you may not have always thought about, but when his name came up you would smile and remember his greatness.

I do take some consolation in knowing that he and Heath are together again. Much like they were Batman and Robin on earth, they are now together forever more.

And as usual, JoJo is doing all the talking and Delvin is just smiling.