Raymond Dyral Mathews (February 26, 1929 – December 20, 2015) 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 wi ...

halfback and

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

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) for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. He played college football for

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

Early years

Mathews attended

McKeesport Area High School McKeesport Area High School is a public high school located in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, United States. The school, which is located at 1960 Eden Park Boulevard, serves students from Dravosburg, McKeesport, South Versailles, Versailles, and Whi ...

, before moving on to

, where he played baseball and football. He was the starting halfback in a backfield that included Fred Cone. The 1948 team finished undefeated and beat the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, 24-23, in the 1949 Gator Bowl. As a senior, he was a part of another undefeated season and played in the 1951 Orange Bowl, beating the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

15–14. He made an acrobatic reception for one of the

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 Amer ...

s. In 1978, he was inducted into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Mathews was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round (81st overall) of the

1951 NFL Draft The 1951 National Football League Draft was held January 18–19, 1951, at the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago. The Baltimore Colts folded after the 1950 season, and the NFL placed their players in the 1951 NFL draft. This was the fifth year that th ...

. He was mostly a backup to

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

Fran Rogel Francis Stephen Rogel (December 12, 1927 – June 3, 2002) was an American football fullback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL. Collegiate career Unable to enroll at Penn State due to the college's post-World War II policy of giving admi ...

. Because of his speed, he was switched to wide receiver in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, ar ...

. He was also used as a kickoff and punt returner. He was the team's leading rusher in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, with 315 yards on 66 carries. He led the team in receiving in three straight seasons ( 1954-

). He finished his Steelers career after appearing in 108 games with 230 receptions for 3,919 yards and 34 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,057 yards and five touchdowns on 300 carries. He also held the franchise records for longest reception (78 yards) and most touchdowns in a game (4). In 2007, he was named to the Pittsburgh Steelers Legends team.

Dallas Cowboys

Mathews was selected by the

in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft. He was the team captain for the first game in franchise history. He appeared in 6 games as a reserve player, while reuniting with former college teammate Fred Cone.

Personal life

Early in the 1950s, he played four seasons of minor-league baseball in the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

farm system. After retiring as a player, he was a high school coach for five seasons at

Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It is upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 census. The borough is represented by the ...

, an assistant coach for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

. On December 20, 2015, he died of complications from dementia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Ray 1929 births 2015 deaths People from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football ends American football halfbacks Calgary Stampeders coaches Clemson Tigers football players Dallas Cowboys players Pittsburgh Steelers players Washington Redskins coaches Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players Deaths from dementia in Pennsylvania