MarQueis Gray
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MarQueis Gray (born November 7, 1989) is a former
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 wi ...
tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...
. He played college football at
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, and was originally signed by 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 ...
as an
undrafted 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 ...
in 2013. He has also been a member of 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 (A ...
,
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
, Buffalo Bills,
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
, and
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 ...
.


High school career

Gray went to
Ben Davis High School Ben Davis High School (BDHS) is a three-year high school in Indianapolis, Indiana. History Ben Davis was first established in 1892. The current school building was constructed in 1965. The school underwent extensive construction and renovation fr ...
in
Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
. There, he was coached by Mike Kirschner, where he was a three-year starter. He was rated as a four-star prospect by
Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
, as well as the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the No. 1 player in the state of
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
by Rivals. He received four stars from
Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...
, which ranks him as the nation's No. 14 high school quarterback, and
ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...
's No. 13 quarterback nationally, where he was selected to participate in the Elite 11 Quarterback Camp, and played in the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Bowl, completing 3-of-7 passes for 56 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 41 yards and a touchdown. He missed the majority of his senior season after suffering a broken bone in his non-throwing arm, and saw action in just five games during 2007, including three after returning from the injury, and connected on 26-of-41 passes for 376 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing for 302 yards on 64 carries with four touchdowns and caught five passes for 86 yards and a score. As a junior, he completed 73 of 140 passes for 1,113 yards and 12 touchdowns, while rushing for 603 yards and seven touchdowns on 127 carries. He earned honorable mention Class 5A all-state honors. Gray committed to
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
on January 5, 2008. Gray also had offers of football scholarships from the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...
, the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
,
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...
, the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...
, Kentucky University, Michigan State University, the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, and
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...
.


College career

Gray was forced to sit out his true freshman season in 2008 after his ACT score was deemed invalid due to unspecified "irregularities." Gray returned to the team in the spring of 2009 and impressed observers in the Golden Gophers' spring game. Gray played in 2009 as both a quarterback and wide receiver. He had a breakout game against
Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...
going 5-of-6 passing for 51 yards and tossing his first touchdown pass, all career highs, he also had a career day running ball against the Buckeyes with career highs of 11 carries and 81 yards. He scored his first collegiate touchdown on a reception against Cal. He finished his freshman season with 265 yards rushing, he ended the regular season as the team's fourth-leading rusher. Gray played both positions in the
Insight Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...
, inserted as a backup to starting quarterback Adam Weber going 1-of-2 for 11 yards, with three carries for 34 yards. One of those carries — in the fourth quarter — resulted in a fumble, recovered by Iowa State who were able to run out the clock for a 14-13 victory. Gray also caught two passes for 37 yards. As a sophomore in 2010, Gray made appearances in all 12 games including seven starts at wide receiver, where he tallied 42 catches for 587 yards and hauled in five touchdowns. He also had 119 rushing yards on 23 carries while completing two of eight passes for 24 yards. Gray was named the starting quarterback for the Gophers for the 2011 season. On the season, he passed for 1,495 yards, eight touchdowns, and eight interceptions. In 2012, in the Gophers' second game against
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
, Gray surpassed
Rickey Foggie Rickey Foggie (born July 15, 1966) is a former gridiron football quarterback. Foggie was the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Golden Gophers for four seasons, before going on to play professionally in the Canadian Football League and Arena ...
and Billy Cockerham with the fifth 100-yard rushing game of his career. He was moved to wide receiver for the rest of the season to allow Philip Nelson to start.


Statistics


Professional career

At the
NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...
, Gray posted a 4.30-second 20-yard shuttle, a 7.25 three-cone drill, a 111.0-inch broad jump, a 30.0-inch vertical jump, a 15-repetition bench press, and ran a 4.73-second forty-yard dash, the fourth fastest time among quarterbacks. Though he played some wide receiver in college, Gray worked out with the quarterback group at the
NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...
.


San Francisco 49ers

After going undrafted at the
2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...
, Gray signed with 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 ...
. Initially Gray worked out as a halfback but soon moved to tight end. During the 2013 preseason, Gray caught one pass for 13 yards against 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 ...
. Gray was later cut by the team on August 30.


Cleveland Browns

On September 1, 2013, Gray was claimed off waivers by 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 (A ...
. He was used mostly as a blocking tight end and a fullback/ H-back, and was also the emergency third string
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
. Gray was waived by the Browns on August 30, 2014 during the final round of roster cuts.


Minnesota Vikings

On August 31, 2014, Gray was claimed off waivers by the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
, but was waived by the team on November 19, 2014 to make room for the newly acquired
Ben Tate Benjamin Franklin Tate (born August 21, 1988) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Auburn. Tate also played for the Cleveland ...
. He caught one pass with the Vikings for 16 yards, in their loss against the Green Bay Packers in Week 5.


Buffalo Bills

On November 20, 2014, Gray was claimed off waivers by the Buffalo Bills, On October 6, 2015, the Bills sent Gray to season ending injured reserve with a broken forearm. He would finish the season with just one catch for two yards in four games.


Miami Dolphins

On March 31, 2016, Gray signed with the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
. On December 29, 2016, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Dolphins. Gray has taken snaps at fullback as well for the Dolphins, occasionally receiving short-yardage carries. Overall, in the 2016 season, he finished with 14 receptions for 174 yards in 16 games. In the 2017 season, he appeared in all 16 games and finished with five carries for 14 yards and one reception for 10 yards. On September 6, 2018, Gray was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in practice, ending his season before it began. The injury did not heal correctly, so Gray underwent additional surgery in March 2019, forcing him to sit out that year's season as well; he has stated that he hopes to return to the NFL in 2020.


San Francisco 49ers (second stint)

On August 29, 2020, Gray signed with 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 was released during final roster cutdowns on September 5.


NFL career statistics


Regular season


References


External links


Minnesota profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Marqueis 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Indianapolis African-American players of American football American football quarterbacks American football tight ends American football wide receivers Minnesota Golden Gophers football players San Francisco 49ers players Cleveland Browns players Minnesota Vikings players Buffalo Bills players Miami Dolphins players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people