Herbert "Herb" William Gray (June 12, 1934 – January 21, 2011) was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

who played for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) from 1956 to 1965.

CFL

As a member of the

, Herb Gray played

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

and

offensive guard 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 in ...

. In 10 years, Gray was a CFL All-Star as a defensive end once and a Western conference all-star 6 times, also the first

to win the Schenley Award as the CFL's most outstanding lineman in 1960. His team won 5 Western Conference titles in 6 years (1957–1962) and 4 Grey Cup championship games, the

46th Grey Cup The 46th Grey Cup was the championship game of the 1958 season of the Canadian Football League on November 29, 1958. The game was played in Vancouver's Empire Stadium before a crowd of 36,567. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger ...

of 1958, the

47th Grey Cup The 47th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football League's (CFL) championship game of the 1959 season on November 28, 1959. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21–7 at Toronto's CNE Stadium before a crowd of 33,133. It was the ...

of 1959, the

49th Grey Cup The 49th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football League's championship game of the 1961 season on December 2, 1961. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21–14 at CNE Stadium in Toronto before 32,651 fans. It is considered to ...

of 1961, the

50th Grey Cup The 50th Grey Cup, also known as the Fog Bowl, was the 1962 Grey Cup Canadian Football League championship game played between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on December 1, 1962, at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. It remain ...

of 1962. His team lost the

45th Grey Cup The 45th Grey Cup was the Canadian Football Council's (CFC) championship game of the 1957 season, which was played on November 30, 1957. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 32–7 at Varsity Stadium in Toronto. This was ...

of 1957 and the 53rd Grey Cup of 1965. Gray was the Blue Bombers defensive captain for 9 years.

Awards

For his achievements, Herb Gray won the Dr. Bert Oja most valuable Bomber lineman award in 1965 and named the Blue Bombers Defensive Player of the Half-Century in 1980. Gray was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983, also into the Winnipeg Football Hall of Fame in 1984 and the

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

in 1995.

Videos

External links

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame profile
1934 births 2011 deaths People from Comal County, Texas Players of American football from Texas Texas Longhorns football players American players of Canadian football Canadian football defensive linemen Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Methodists {{Canadianfootball-defensive-lineman-stub