John Daily rejoins police department
Ex-Cal Maritime basketball player and Houston officer suffered injury in 2018
While he was a basketball player at Cal Maritime and College Park High, John Daily was known to grab his share of boards off the glass as a guard and small forward.
His biggest rebound, however, came last year in Houston.
After being severely injured in a car accident involving a hit-and-run drunk driver on Christmas Eve 2018, one that left him with burns over 50 percent of his body, Daily has fought his way back through rehab to rejoin the Houston Police Department last week.
Although Officer Daily said he will be on administrative duty and answering phones and coordinating other things for the HPD for a few weeks before he returns to his beat on the street, he was thrilled to be honored by the department on his first day back on Feb. 7.
“Yeah it felt really good, just knowing the department had confidence in me,” the 26-year-old Daily said. “It felt good to fulfill a dream of coming back.”
Although the day was a positive one for Daily, nearly 400 days earlier, he suffered through one of the worst days his family could remember.
“I remember responding to another officer’s call and me and my partner put on our lights and sirens to help,” Daily said. “There was another vehicle that turned right into our lane even though he didn’t have the right-ofway and he collided with our cruiser, rolling it three times. We were pinned down and tied and my partner eventually saved my life and pulled me out through the passenger side. I suffered 52 percent burns and I’ve had 39 surgeries.”
John’s brother, Mike, a fellow police officer in Houston who also played basketball at Cal Maritime, remembers hearing the terrible news. Before they both were star basketball players at College Park High, the brothers grew up in Texas.
“My initial reaction when I heard the news was I thought it was a minor injury, because he walked into the hospital on his own, so I figured he would walk out on his own,” Mike Daily said.
Mike knew his brother would eventually make a recovery and would be back.
“He always had the mentality that he wanted to be a real police officer. He was never one to be lazy,” Mike Daily said. “I always believed he would be back. I mean, you can be really smart, but it’s how you apply yourself to your work that will bring you back no matter how smart you are. He wasn’t going to do anything to play the victim’s part.”
Former Cal Maritime head basketball coach Bryan Rooney, who coached both Daily brothers when they were Keelhaulers and now coaches their younger brother, Steven, at Cal State East Bay, also had no doubt that John would eventually rejoin the HPD.
“The one thing I really remember about John is that I was always appreciative of how loyal he was as a teammate,” Rooney said. “He always put in the physical stuff and was willing to do the extra work. The fight he always showed on the court was very inspiring and I’m sure it helped him in his recovery.”
Rooney said he often talked with John during his comeback and would always get updates from Steven. This year John was a guest at one of Cal State East Bay’s games.
“Yeah it was great to see him (Rooney) again and I have spoken to him a few times during all of this,” John Daily said. “I went to one of the games to see my brother and I got the whole backstage access, so that was great.”
John Daily said his time at Cal Maritime helped him through rehab.
“I would say one of the things about playing for Rooney and Cal Maritime is that I surrounded myself with good people who care about you, and that’s a winning combination,” John said. “As far as my career goes, the organizational and leadership skills I learned at Cal Maritime helped me out, because I was used to strict rules and that made my transition to being a police officer a lot easier.”
Despite there not being any doubt on the eventual comeback, there were times Mike had to give his brother some friendly advice: Slow down.
“I had to tell him to stay patient,” Mike said. “Being a burn victim he couldn’t rush through this, but it was tough for him because he’s always been optimistic and a hard charger. He’s someone that wants to get up and get it done, but he had to stay patient and trust the process of what he was going through.”
John agreed with his brother, with a laugh, before adding, “Yes, my mind definitely moves faster than my body with this. There were a lot of times I wanted to do something but my body just couldn’t yet. It was a tough process the first six months, and I wasn’t sure I could make it back because the actual wounds and having them close was tough. But I was determined to come back.”
That day finally came last week and now John is more motivated than ever in not only being a good police officer, but also an advocate against drunk driving. Since he hasn’t been able to shoot hoops lately due to the injury, he’s hoping to make a huge difference in another type of court.
“I plan on being a spokesperson against drunk driving and I want to urge everyone just how detrimental it is to the victims and how it can affect them,” John Daily said. “I really want to show my voice for that in the justice system and make sure we are not so lenient against drunk drivers. It seems that the crimes come in cycles and sometimes it’s really important and sometimes it’s not. It’s always important and I want to show that we should always pursue charges against drunk drivers.”