Richard Junior Ray (born October 22, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts. He also briefly spent time in the af2, as well as with the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). Ray is the all-time leader in passing yardage, pass completions, and passing touchdowns for both the Edmonton Elks and Toronto Argonauts. He won the Grey Cup championship a record four times as a starting quarterback, in 2003, 2005, 2012, and 2017. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2022.
Early life Richard Junior Ray was born on October 22, 1979, in Happy Camp, California. He attended Shasta High School in Redding, California.
College career In 1997, Ray made his debut for Shasta College, a two-year community college in Redding, California. He became a first-team All-American and state player of the year in 1998. He also set several school records during his time at Shasta, most notably throwing 199 consecutive pass attempts without allowing an interception. On December 20, 2014, Ricky was inducted into the Shasta County Sports Hall Of Fame.Induction Ceremony Events & Information , Shasta County Sports Hall Of Fame website
Ray moved on to play NCAA college football with Sacramento State University. In 1999, Ray completed 179 of 291 passes for 2,422 yards and 20 touchdowns. In 2000, he completed 168 of 270 passes (62.2%) for 13 touchdowns with 6 interceptions. Ray is still in the top ten for many Sacramento State career passing records.
Professional career San Francisco 49ers After his college career ended in 2000, Ray, having gone undrafted by the NFL, attended training camp with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, but did not make the team and only dressed for a single pre-season game. He earned the nickname "Frito Ray" by teammates, as he was working as a delivery driver for Frito-Lay chips when he was called up for training camp.
Fresno Frenzy Ray made his professional debut with the Fresno Frenzy of the Arena Football League's developmental league af2. He played seven games for the Frenzy, where he was coached by former CFL quarterback Rick Worman. He completed 116 passes for 1,296 yards, 25 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Worman was instrumental in arranging a tryout with the Eskimos.
Edmonton Eskimos (first stint) In 2002, Ray made the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos out of training camp. The Eskimos entered the season as a competitive West Division team and featured notable depth at the quarterback position. Starter Jason Maas had already established himself as a leading quarterback in the league. Ray started the season as the Eskimos' third-string quarterback.
Late in the fourth quarter of a Week Four game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Maas was knocked out of the game, and would not be available for the Week Five matchup against the rival BC Lions. Ray made his debut relieving Maas in the Saskatchewan game and his first start against the Lions, throwing for four touchdowns. Ray threw for 2,991 yards, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions with a quarterback rating of 101.3, highest in the league.
With Maas still recovering from injury, Ray led the Eskimos to the Grey Cup game against Montréal. Ray threw for 324 yards, but the Eskimos lost the 90th Grey Cup to the Alouettes 26–16 at home. Ray failed to convert on a vital two-point conversion late in the game that could have tied the affair at 18–18. The failure forced the Eskimos into an onside kick attempt, which failed as Montréal returned it for a touchdown and took a lead that they would not lose. During the year, Ray was named Offensive Player of the Week and Month, but was not eligible for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award following a brief stint in the NFL.
Maas returned for the 2003 season, setting up a quarterback duel between Maas and Ray during training camp. However, Maas sustained a back injury during the off-season, a condition that would require surgery. Ray remained the starter even after Maas returned.
Despite splitting time early in the year, Ray ended with a 67.6 completion percentage, 4,640 yards, 35 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and was a candidate for the Most Outstanding Player award. The Eskimos rebounded from their slow start and made the playoffs, defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western final as Ray threw for 356 yards. The 91st Grey Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan featured the Eskimos against the Alouettes. The Eskimos defeated the Alouettes 34–22, for the team's first Grey Cup in a decade. Ray played exceptionally against Alouettes coach Don Matthews's renowned blitzing defense, completing 22 of 32 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns.
New York Jets After two years in Canada, Ray began to look south of the border. Former Eskimo Warren Moon, a legend in the NFL and CFL, advised Ray to stay in the CFL a little while longer to improve as a quarterback and receive a better shot at a starting job. But the lure of the league he had dreamed of in his youth proved too strong to keep Ray in Canada, and he signed with the New York Jets.
In the 2004 NFL season, Ray dressed for six games with the Jets. When starter Chad Pennington went down briefly with a rotator cuff injury, backup Quincy Carter came in and played well, relegating Ray to the bench. After the season concluded, Ray asked for his release by the Jets. Ray subsequently returned to the Eskimos.
Edmonton Eskimos (second stint) Ray's return was accompanied by controversy. He became the favourite to take the starting job in Edmonton, but, once again, the team was deep at quarterback in 2005. In addition to Ray, Maas remained in Edmonton. While Ray had been in the NFL, Maas had been the starter and had played superbly, becoming only the second Eskimo to pass for 5,000 yards in a single season.
Ray received the starting job out of training camp in 2005. Maas, despite frequent trade rumours, was once again made his backup. Jason Johnson remained on the roster as the third quarterback. Ray started the 2005 season strongly, leading the league in completions and yardage. He set a pro football record with 479 completions in 2005. However, towards the end of the year, Ray's play faltered, concluding in him not throwing a touchdown in the season's last four games.
In the playoffs, Ray was benched twice more, both in the West Semi-Final against Calgary and the West Final against British Columbia, and both times Maas came on the field, threw very well, and recorded the winning points. Head coach Danny Maciocia, however, promised Ray the start in the 93rd Grey Cup, perhaps because of rumours that a trade of Maas to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats had already been arranged. This time, however, Ray seized the opportunity presented to him, throwing for 359 yards and two touchdowns while completing 35 of 45 passes. The Eskimos defeated the Montreal Alouettes 38–35 in overtime, and Ray was named most valuable player of the Grey Cup.
In 2006, Ray started for the Eskimos for every single game of the season, led the league in passing with exactly 5,000 yards, and was near the top in completion percentage at 65.7%, 21 touchdowns, and a passer rating of 89.8.
On September 14, 2007, in a win against the Montreal Alouettes, Ray surpassed CFL and NFL hall-of-famer Warren Moon to capture the Eskimos' all-time record for career passing yards.CFL.ca Network :: Official site of the Canadian Football League On September 28, 2007, he suffered a separated shoulder at the hands of Toronto Argonauts safety Willie Pile, ending his season.edmontonsun.com - Football - Ricky won't be cut Without Ray, the Eskimos lost their remaining five games and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
In 2008, Ray completed 422 of 608 pass attempts (69.8% completion) for a league-leading, career-best, and single-season Eskimo record 5,661 yards. Ray threw for 26 touchdowns and 17 interceptions for a 101.8 quarterback rating. Ray also scrambled for 258 yards and 5 touchdowns. One of his best games of the season came in the final week of the season vs. the Alouettes when Ray broke the record for highest completion percentage in a single game (with a minimum of 20 passing attempts) when he went 23 of 25 for 92.0% for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns in only 3 quarters of play. He led the Esks to a win in the crossover playoff game in Winnipeg, but the team lost in the East finals to Montreal. The 2008 Eskimos were the first team to ever win a crossover game.
In 2009, Ray completed 401 of 596 pass attempts (67.3% completion) for a league leading 4,916 yards, 22 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for a 96.4 quarterback rating. Ray scrambled for 206 yards and 6 touchdowns. In a game versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Ray completed 20 consecutive passes before receiver Jamaica Rector dropped a pass, ending the streak. This remarkable performance left Ray 2nd all time behind teammate Jason Maas (who completed 22 straight passes on July 30, 2004), in the CFL record books for most consecutive pass completions in a single game.
In 2010, Ray completed 288 of 447 pass attempts (64.4% completion) for 3,565 yards, 11 touchdowns and 16 interceptions for an 82.3 quarterback rating. Additionally, Ray scrambled for 302 yards and three touchdowns. In Game 15, Ray had a career rushing performance, compiling 135 yards on 12 rushes and a touchdown. He started 16 of the 18 games. Statistically, it was the worst year of his career.
In 2011, Ray completed 343 of 526 pass attempts (65.2% completion) for 4,954 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a 99.3 quarterback rating. Additionally, Ray scrambled for 258 yards and 1 touchdown. Ricky Ray had a bounce back season after struggling in 2010. His solid play earned him Offensive Player of the month for the month of September. Ray lead the Eskimos to a record of 11–7, qualifying for the Playoffs.
Toronto Argonauts Ray was traded to the Toronto Argonauts on December 12, 2011, for quarterback Steven Jyles, placekicker Grant Shaw, and a 2012 first round draft pick.http://www.esks.com/article/eskimos-and-argos-swing-major-trade Eskimos and Argos swing major trade Ray went on to win the 100th Grey Cup as the Argonauts' starting quarterback. On May 31, 2013, the Argos extended Ray's contract through the 2015 CFL season.Contract extension through 2015
In 2012, Ray completed 321 of 468 pass attempts (68.6% completion) for 4,059 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a 99.8 quarterback rating. Rays 68.59% completion rate was a new team record breaking the previous mark of 67.25% set by Kerwin Bell in 1998. Ray injured his knee in the third quarter of a Week 4 win against the Blue Bombers. He missed the Week 5 game and then returned to the starting lineup in Week 7, following a bye in Week 6. Ray was averaging over 300 yards passing per game compiling a total of 3,341 yards in his first 11 games before suffering a knee injury in the 1st quarter of a game against Montreal. Ray would return for the final two games of the season completing 20 of 33 passes for 383 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions vs Winnipeg and 24 of 30 passes for 305 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interceptions against Saskatchewan, earning offensive player of the week honors for the latter performance and helping the Argos clinch a playoff spot.