William H. "Pete" Mandley (born July 29, 1961) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the second round of the

1984 NFL draft The 1984 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held May 1–2, 1984 NFL season, ...

. Standing at 5'10" and 191 lbs. from

Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is an unofficial, colloquially defined region of the U.S. state of Arizona. Generally consisting of Apache, Coconino, Mohave, Navajo, and Yavapai counties, the region is geographically dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the ...

, Mandley played in seven NFL seasons from 1984 to 1990. His best year as a pro came during the 1987 season for the Lions when he caught 58 receptions for 720 yards and 7 touchdowns. On August 16, 1987, Mandley and his family were supposed to be on

Northwest Airlines Flight 255 On August 16, 1987, a McDonnell Douglas MD-80#MD-82, McDonnell Douglas MD-82, operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255, crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, about 8:46 pm Eastern Time Zone, EDT (00:46 UTC Augu ...

from Detroit to Phoenix when his daughter had taken ill. He cancelled his reservation and decided that he and his family would stay in Detroit an extra day. He later learned that the flight had crashed on takeoff killing all but one on board.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandley, Pete 1961 births Living people Players of American football from Mesa, Arizona American football wide receivers American football return specialists Northern Arizona Lumberjacks football players Detroit Lions players Kansas City Chiefs players Montreal Machine players