Deron L. Cherry
NFL Star and Entrepreneur

Deron L. Cherry, the former Rutgers gridiron star, rose steadily in the worlds of business and professional sports. He played defensive back for the Kansas City Chiefs, is a successful business entrepreneur, and is one of the first African-Americans to co-own a professional NFL football team, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A native of Palmyra, he was MVP and co-captained the Scarlet Knights at Rutgers in 1980. He was inducted into the Rutgers Football Hall of Fame. Mr. Cherry raised the bar on professional sports earnings by becoming the NFL's highest-paid defensive back in the late 1980's, commanding an $850,000 annual salary. After his 1992 retirement, he bought a stake in the Jaguars, as one of nine partners in the NFL team. He has also served as the Jaguars' radio commentator.

Mr. Cherry is the general managing partner of the United Beverage Company, an Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1996, he was inducted into the Kansas City Chiefs' Hall of Fame. Ranked one of the finest free safeties to ever play football, he also played in the Pro Bowl six times. He is known for his generous public service: funding scholarships, speaking against substance abuse, working for Special Olympics, and for founding Score 1 for Health, which provides annual checkups for children.

"I think it's important that I was successful and I was a sports star," he says. "But I tell young people that it's more important to try to reach your potential as a person. As I look back on all my accomplishments and achievements so far in my life, the quality and excellent education I received from Rutgers University helped build the foundation which has allowed me to be successful."

Mr. Cherry graduated from Rutgers with a degree in business administration (5-year B.A./M.B.A.)