William Edward Daley (September 16, 1919 – October 19, 2015) was an All-American fullback who played for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1940 to 1942 and for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1943. The Gophers were national champions in his freshman and sophomore years. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1943 and was assigned to the V-12 Navy College Training Program at the University of Michigan. He played football for the Wolverines in 1943 where he rushed for 817 yards in just six games before being reassigned by the Navy. Based on his performance in 1943, he was named an All-American and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Daley has the unique status of having played in and won Little Brown Jug games for both Minnesota and Michigan, compiling a record of 4–0 in those contests. After active service in the Pacific Theater during World War II, Daley played professional football for three years in the All-America Football Conference with the Brooklyn Dodgers (1946), the Miami Seahawks (1946), the Chicago Rockets (1947), and the New York Yankees (1948). He later was one of the radio announcers for Minnesota Golden Gophers football for ten years and for the Minnesota Vikings when they first arrived in Minnesota. Beginning in 1973, he owned and operated the Daley Illustration Gallery in downtown Minneapolis.
Early years
Daley was born and raised in Melrose, Minnesota. After graduating from high school in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Daley moved to Chicago, Illinois to pursue a career as a boxer. Daley attended DePaul University in Chicago, where he met a track and field coach who persuaded him to pursue football.
University of Minnesota
Daley enrolled at the University of Minnesota where he played football from 1940 to 1942. He played on two national championship teams at Minnesota in 1940 and 1941, and the Gophers narrowly missed a third national championship in 1942. The Gophers beat Michigan in the Little Brown Jug game all three years Daley played there. In 1940, the Gophers beat Tom Harmon's Wolverines 7–6. Harmon missed an extra point that cost Michigan the game.
University of Michigan
After the 1942 season, Daley enlisted in the United States Navy. Because of his college background, Daley was selected to attend a midshipman academy at Columbia University in New York City. He was ordered to report to the University of Michigan because it had a V-12 Navy College Training Program. He stayed in Ann Arbor for only six months while waiting for an opening in the program at Columbia. While in Ann Arbor, recruits were required to remain in good physical shape and were given two choices: either participate in Navy fitness classes or work out with the Michigan football team. Michigan's football coach Fritz Crisler took advantage of the opportunity and convinced Daley to play for his football team, as Daley had one year of eligibility remaining.
He played for Michigan in 1943 where he was the nation's fourth best ground gainer despite playing in only six games. Daley's speed and power helped the Wolverines tie Purdue for the Big Ten Conference title. Daley averaged 6.8 yards per carry and scored nine touchdowns. He carried the ball 120 times, rushed for 817 yards and added another 119 yards on six punt returns. In addition to his six touchdowns, he kicked three extra points, for a total of 57 points scored. His best game came on October 2, 1943, at Evanston, Illinois, as Michigan beat Northwestern, 21–7 win. In that game, Daley gained 216 yards and scored two touchdowns in 26 carries.
In his final college football game, he helped the Wolverines win back the Little Brown Jug that he had helped the Gophers secure from 1940 to 1942. He holds the distinction of being the only player to win Little Brown Jug games playing for both Minnesota and Michigan. Asked at the time about having the opportunity to battle for the Little Brown Jug from the other side of the fence, Daley denied having qualms about playing his former teammates: "It will have to be just another game. I look at it just as though it were an intrasquad scrimmage. There won't be any qualms about how hard I hit my teammates or how hard they hit me." He did note, though, that he wanted his last college football game to be memorable: "If this is going to be my last game, I'd really like it to be one I can remember."