Raymond Willard Terrell ( – ) was a professional

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 ...

halfback and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played two seasons for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

(AAFC). Terrell attended the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, where he played as a halfback on its football team. He joined the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

in 1942 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and upon his discharge was signed by the Browns, then a team under formation in the new AAFC. Terrell returned an interception 76 yards for a touchdown in the Browns' first game, a team record that stood for 14 years. The Browns went on to win the first AAFC championship, but Terrell was sent to the Colts after the season as part of a league-led effort to distribute talent more evenly among its teams. He was released by the Colts midway through the 1947 season, however, and returned to the Browns. The team proceeded to win a second AAFC championship.

College and professional career

Terrell was born in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and attended the

, where he played as a halfback on the football team. He entered the U.S. Navy in 1942 during

and played football for a team at

Naval Air Station Jacksonville Naval Air Station Jacksonville (NAS Jacksonville) is a large naval air station located approximately eight miles (13 km) south of the central business district of Jacksonville, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25 Location NAS Jack ...

, where he was stationed. He moved to the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

in 1943 and played for another team at Camp Lejune in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Terrell was signed by the

of the new

(AAFC) in 1946. He played on offense and defense for the Browns, and in the team's first game against the

Miami Seahawks The Miami Seahawks were a professional American football team based in Miami, Florida. They played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the league's inaugural season, 1946, before the team was relocated to Baltimore. They are notable ...

he returned an interception 76 yards for a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

, a team record that stood for 14 years. The Browns won the AAFC's first championship game at the end of the season. Terrell was one of several Browns players sent to the struggling

after the season in an attempt to balance talent among the AAFC's teams. He was cut by the Colts in the middle of the 1947 season, however, and tried to regain his position on the Browns' roster after several of the team's halfbacks suffered injuries. "We're going to take a good look at him and if we're convinced that Ray has what he had when he was with us last year we will sign him," Cleveland coach Paul Brown said at the time. Terrell was re-signed by the Browns shortly thereafter and played in several games at the end of the season. The Browns won a second AAFC championship in 1947.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Terrell, Ray 1919 births 1997 deaths American football defensive backs American football halfbacks Cleveland Browns (AAFC) players Jacksonville Naval Air Station Flyers football players Ole Miss Rebels football players People from Water Valley, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Baltimore Colts (1947–1950) players