A Jets quarterback who filled in when Joe Namath went down with an injury died earlier this month.

Bill Demory, 74, passed away on Feb. 14 from prostate cancer and Parkinson’s, according to an online obituary. 

He was signed by the Jets in 1973 after playing his college ball at Arizona, where he threw 28 touchdowns in three seasons.

Head coach Weeb Ewbank was given game film of Demory while at a general managers conference in Arizona and signed Demory.

But at training camp, Demory was fifth on the quarterback depth chart. 

“At Arizona, I was an average quarterback, but luck was on my side when I joined the Jets,” he mentioned to the Observer-Dispatch in 2012. 

With some ineffective play from QBs ahead of him, Demory moved up to third.

An injury to Namath made Al Woodall the starter and Demory was promoted from the taxi squad to backup QB. 

And when Woodall was injured, Demory became the very unlikely starter. 

He was the winner in a 9-7 victory over the Patriots. Demory completed only one pass but it set up the game-winning field goal. 

After the game, Namath commented on Demory’s performance, saying, “I believe he stuck to the plan well. He managed to avoid turnovers, which is crucial in games like this. It’s common for young quarterbacks to fumble or make mistakes, but he didn’t do any of that.” 

Demory also made starts against the Steelers and Broncos. 

Following Demory’s departure in 1975, Ewbank inquired with various teams in the league about the possibility of Demory serving as an assistant coach, but unfortunately, no one showed interest. 

Demory later went to grad school at Iowa for economics and became a professor at Central Arizona College. 

“My students really don’t know about my playing for the Jets and I don’t bring it up on purpose,” he said in 2012. “It would be a distraction, I think,  and I don’t want to waste any time in the classroom …  If they should do a Google search on me, to get the low down on my class, I would talk to them about my football days.”

Demory is survived by his wife, four children and 14 grandchildren.