| No. 85 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1948-09-29)September 29, 1948 (age 77) Fresno, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 172 lb (78 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Montgomery (Santa Rosa, California) | ||||||||
| College | Missouri | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1971:6th round, 147th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Melvin Dean Gray (born September 29, 1948) is an American former professionalfootball player who was awide receiver for theSt. Louis Cardinals of theNational Football League (NFL) from 1971 to 1982. He attended college at theUniversity of Missouri.
Gray attendedMontgomery High School inSanta Rosa, California,[1] the football standout was also atrack and field star. While winning the100-yard dash at the 1967CIF California State Meet, Gray set not only the meet record but theNational High School record of 9.4 in the event at the time. His meet record lasted until 1979.
He accepted a scholarship to theUniversity of Missouri and became a football and track and field star. Gray was an All-American sprinter and was a Grand Slam winner in the 100-meter dash in 1970, capturing titles at the Texas, Kansas, and Drake relays. Gray was a five-timeBig Eight Conference sprint champion, winning the indoor 60-yard dash (1970), and the 100- and 220-yard dashes outdoors in 1969 and 1970. He is the co-holder of the MU records in all three races, with times of 6.0 seconds, 9.2 seconds, and 20.3 seconds, respectively.[2][3] Gray was also an all-Big Eight performer in 1969 when he caught 25 passes for 705 yards and a school-record nine touchdowns. He held the school record for career receiving yards (1,491) for 20 years and was named to theMizzou All-Century Team in 1990.
In the1971 NFL draft, Gray was asixth-round pick of theSt. Louis Cardinals and was selected to four straight Pro Bowls (1974–1977). Gray was one of the most feared deep threats in the NFL throughout the 1970s. Twenty-eight of his forty-six career touchdown receptions were more than 40 yards long. He was the league co-leader in touchdown receptions in 1975 and averaged almost 19 yards per catch during his career. Gray also caught passes in 121 consecutive games between 1973 and 1982.[4]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1971 | STL | 14 | 5 | 18 | 534 | 29.7 | 80 | 4 |
| 1972 | STL | 7 | 1 | 3 | 62 | 20.7 | 33 | 0 |
| 1973 | STL | 12 | 9 | 29 | 513 | 17.7 | 80 | 7 |
| 1974 | STL | 14 | 14 | 39 | 770 | 19.7 | 80 | 6 |
| 1975 | STL | 14 | 14 | 48 | 926 | 19.3 | 74 | 11 |
| 1976 | STL | 11 | 11 | 36 | 686 | 19.1 | 77 | 5 |
| 1977 | STL | 14 | 14 | 38 | 782 | 20.6 | 69 | 5 |
| 1978 | STL | 13 | 12 | 44 | 871 | 19.8 | 74 | 1 |
| 1979 | STL | 13 | 13 | 25 | 447 | 17.9 | 78 | 1 |
| 1980 | STL | 16 | 16 | 40 | 709 | 17.7 | 69 | 3 |
| 1981 | STL | 12 | 12 | 27 | 310 | 11.5 | 41 | 2 |
| 1982 | STL | 5 | 0 | 4 | 34 | 8.5 | 13 | 0 |
| 145 | 121 | 351 | 6,644 | 18.9 | 80 | 45 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Receiving | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1974 | STL | 1 | 1 | 5 | 77 | 15.4 | 29 | 0 |
| 1975 | STL | 1 | 1 | 3 | 52 | 17.3 | 23 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 8 | 129 | 16.1 | 29 | 1 | ||
Gray is a member of the University of Missouri Hall of Fame,[5] the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.[6]
