Delvin Lemar Joyce (born September 21, 1978) is an American financial advisor and former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

. Joyce rose from a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

to become an honorable mention All-American and the first player in

Division I-AA The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

history to reach 1,000 career yards in rushing, receiving, punt returns, and kickoff returns. Joyce then entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent. He played from 2002 to 2004 for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

mainly as a return specialist. After retiring from football, Joyce became a financial advisor with

Prudential Financial Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers t ...

Early life and college career

Born in Martinsville, Virginia, Joyce graduated from Fieldale-Collinsville High School in

Collinsville, Virginia Collinsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 7,335 at the 2010 census, which was down from the 7,777 reported in 2000. It is part of the Martinsville Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

in 1996 and walked on the

James Madison Dukes football The James Madison Dukes football program represents James Madison University in the sport of American football. The Dukes compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), beginning play ...

team at James Madison University. Joyce then played at tailback for James Madison from 1997 to 2000. At James Madison, Joyce became the first player in

and second in all of Division I to reach 1,000 career yards in all four statistical categories of rushing (1,260), receiving (1,009), punt returns (1,488), and kickoff returns (1,902). ''Football Weekly'' named Joyce an honorable mention All-American return specialist.

Pro football career

Joyce was not selected in the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

, and no team signed him as a free agent. He worked as a financial planner during the 2001 NFL season before signing with the

on January 15, 2002. Playing 28 games in 2002 and 2003, Joyce had 27 punt returns for 219 yards, 48 kickoff returns for 1,085 yards, 13 rushing attempts for 41 yards, four receptions for 12 yards, and five tackles. In 2004, Joyce sat out the season due to a hip injury. On April 26, 2005, Joyce signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. The Jets cut Joyce on August 8.

Post-football career

Joyce moved to

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

after retiring from football. In October 2006, Joyce became a financial services associate at

in North Carolina. He was promoted to manager in December 2007; by 2009 he was ranked among Prudential's top 30 financial services manager. In 2012, Joyce moved to

Wellington, Florida Wellington is a village just west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and north of Miami. As of 2019, the city had a population of 65,398 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, making it the most populous village in the state. It is the ...

after becoming a managing director at Prudential Advisors. Joyce returned to Charlotte to work as a financial planner at Prudential's Charlotte office in 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Delvin 1978 births Living people American football running backs American football return specialists New York Giants players James Madison Dukes football players Players of American football from Virginia People from Martinsville, Virginia People from Charlotte, North Carolina People from Wellington, Florida