David Merle Dalby (October 19, 1950 – August 30, 2002) was an

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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

; he played fourteen seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), all with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders.

Early years

Dalby was a star linemen at center and defensive end, who led his high school football team, the La Serna Lancers of

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 United States ...

, to the California Scholastic Federation AAA football championship in 1967. An all-around athlete in high school, Dalby also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

at La Serna and graduated in 1968. Dalby 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 ...

nearby at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

(

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

), where he became part of their All-Century team as center, and is a member of the UCLA Hall of Fame.

Raiders

Dalby was the 100th overall pick of the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

, selected in the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. He played fourteen seasons in the NFL, all with the Raiders (

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

–

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

) and did not miss a single game. In his fourth year in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Dalby replaced

hall of famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Jim Otto James Edwin Otto (born January 5, 1938) is an American former professional football player who played as a center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He played collegia ...

as the starting center, who retired after the previous season. He became only the second starting center in franchise history, as Otto had been the starter since the team's inception in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

. For the next decade, Dalby was a part of sterling offensive lines which culminated in three Raider

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

victories ( XI, XV, XVIII). During that 1975–1985 window, the Raiders reached the playoffs eight times (1975–1977, 1980, 1982–1985). During his eleven seasons as a starter, Dalby played next to hall of famer

Gene Upshaw Eugene Thurman Upshaw Jr. (August 15, 1945 – August 20, 2008), also known as "Uptown Gene" and "Highway 63", was an American professional football player for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and later the National F ...

Curt Marsh Curt Marsh (born August 25, 1959) is a former American football offensive tackle. He was selected in the first round by the Oakland Raiders out of the University of Washington in the 1981 NFL Draft. Marsh was a High School All-American at Snohomis ...

, and

Charley Hannah Charles Alvin Hannah (born July 26, 1955) is a former American football offensive guard and defensive end who played in the National Football League from 1977 to 1988. Charley played six years for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and six years for the L ...

at left guard with

George Buehler George Siegrist Buehler, Jr. (born August 10, 1947) is a former American football offensive lineman in the American Football League and the National Football League. High school career Buehler played for Whittier High School and was the CIF So ...

and

Mickey Marvin Phillip Michael "Mickey" Marvin (October 5, 1955 – March 6, 2017) was a professional American football player. Career After attending the University of Tennessee, Marvin played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, from 1977 t ...

at right guard. He was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

once, after the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

season. After his retirement, he was replaced as the starting center in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

Don Mosebar Donald Howard Mosebar (born September 11, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

Death

Dalby died in a car accident on August 30, 2002 at 51, when his van hit a tree.

References

External links

*
Raider starters
1950 births 2002 deaths American Conference Pro Bowl players American football centers Los Angeles Raiders players Oakland Raiders players People from Alexandria, Minnesota Players of American football from Minnesota Road incident deaths in California UCLA Bruins football players Ed Block Courage Award recipients {{offensive-lineman-1950s-stub