Jimmy Arthur Raye III (born November 24, 1968) is 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 ...

former professional wide receiver and current team executive 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 ...

(NFL).

Early years

Raye is the son of

Jimmy Raye II James Arthur Raye Jr. (born March 26, 1946) is an American football coach and former player who is currently a senior adviser to NFL vice-president Troy Vincent. A book about his college career by award-winning sportswriter Tom Shanahan was publi ...

, who was the offensive coordinator for seven different NFL teams, most recently the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. He attended

Irvine High School Irvine High School is a public high school, located in the city of Irvine in Orange County, California, United States. It is part of the Irvine Unified School District. The school is located in the El Camino Real neighborhood in the north-central ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

during his high school years.

College career

A wide receiver for the

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

(SDSU) from 1986 to 1990, Raye earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

. He left SDSU tied for eighth on the school's all-time receiving list with 111 catches.

National Football League career

Raye's

career began when he signed 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 ...

contract with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

. He ended up playing in the final two games of the season. He was the offensive quality control coach for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

in 1995. He joined the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

as a scout from 1996–1999, and served as the team's director of college scouting from 2000–2007. He was the Chargers' director of player personnel from 2008–2012. In 2012,

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 ...

general manager

Jerry Angelo Jerry Angelo (born c. 1949) is a former American football executive who was the general manager for the National Football League's Chicago Bears from 2001 to 2011. Prior to joining the Bears, Angelo spent 14 years overseeing Tampa Bay Buccaneers ...

was fired, and Raye was one of four candidates for the job. In 2013, Raye was hired as VP of Football Operations for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

, and held the post from 2013–2016. In 2017, he was hired as VP of player personnel/assistant general manager for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. In 2018, Raye was hired as Senior Personnel Executive for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. On March 5, 2021, Raye parted ways with the Lions.

References

External links

Databasefootball.com playerpage RAYEJIM02

Colts press release
1968 births Living people American football wide receivers Los Angeles Rams players San Diego State Aztecs football players Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina Sportspeople from Irvine, California African-American players of American football San Diego Chargers scouts Houston Texans executives Detroit Lions executives Indianapolis Colts executives San Diego Chargers executives Kansas City Chiefs coaches 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{widereceiver-1960s-stub