Buford Garfield "Baby" Ray (September 30, 1914 – January 21, 1986) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player who played 11 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

from 1938 to 1948.

Early life

Ray was born in Una,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, an unincorporated town east of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. He attended Central High School in Nashville.

College career

Ray played for

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

for three seasons, 1935-1937. He was a stand-out at both

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

and

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

, due in part to his tremendous size. Ray stood 6' 6" and weighed over 280 pounds, much larger than nearly all college football players of the day. In his final season with the Commodores, Ray was named a co-captain. Ray also competed in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

while at Vanderbilt.

Professional career

Ray was not selected in the 1938 NFL Draft, and became the subject of a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

bidding war between

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and

Curly Lambeau Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau (April 9, 1898 – June 1, 1965) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin native George Whitney Calho ...

of the Packers. Ray signed with Green Bay, playing the entirety of his 11-year NFL career with the Packers. Early in his career, Ray shed upwards of 25 pounds from his college playing weight, helping to improve his mobility. Throughout his pro career, Ray typically played at 250-255 pounds. Ray appeared in the 1940 NFL All-Star Game. He was named to the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

team four times, once to the First-team (1941) and three times to the Second-team (1939, 1943 and 1944). Ray was a member of the Packers'

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

and 1944 NFL championship teams.

Retirement

After retiring as a player, Ray returned to Vanderbilt as an assistant coach under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Bill Edwards. He later became the university's first full-time football recruiter and also served as the head of the physical education department. Following his tenure at Vanderbilt, he rejoined the Packers organization as a scout. In 1969, Ray was named to the

National Football League 1940s All-Decade Team This is a list of all NFL players who had outstanding performances throughout the 1940s and have been compiled together into this fantasy group. The team was selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame retroactively in 1969 to mark the lea ...

by the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

. He was inducted into the

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combina ...

in 1973 and into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1983. Ray died of a heart attack in Nashville on January 21, 1986 at the age of 71 following a hunting trip.

Personal life

Ray had three children with his wife, Jane Burns Ray. They made their home in Nashville.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Baby 1914 births 1986 deaths American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards Green Bay Packers players Vanderbilt Commodores football players People from Nashville, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee Vanderbilt Commodores football coaches