Ray Douglas McDonald (May 7, 1944 – May 4, 1993) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

for two seasons, from

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

Early life

McDonald was born in

McKinney McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas, United States. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano, Texas, Plano and Frisco, Texas, Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about ...

, a segregated suburb of

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. After years in McKinney, he began high school in

Alamogordo, New Mexico Alamogordo () is a city in and the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force ...

, and then moved to

Caldwell, Idaho Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 68,336 at the time of th2023 United States census making it the List of cities in Idaho, 5th most populous city in Idaho. C ...

, after his sophomore year. A three-sport star for the Cougars for two years, he graduated from Caldwell High School in 1963. At and , he was a high school All-American and was compared to NFL great

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

College career

McDonald enrolled at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1963 and his family moved north from Caldwell to nearby Lewiston. On the mandatory freshman team his first semester, he led the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...

to convincing wins over the freshman teams of Washington (32–18) and

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

(36–0). (Freshmen were ineligible for NCAA varsity participation until the early 1970s.) McDonald missed the first three games of his sophomore season after tearing his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

in a pick-up basketball game in late June. As a speedy fullback for the varsity as a sophomore, he was dubbed "Thunder Ray" after his first Battle of the Palouse game the first Vandal victory over neighboring WSU in a decade. (Idaho repeated over the Cougars in Pullman in 1965 for the first time in forty years, and would've swept three straight, but lost a late lead in the Moscow mud in 1966). As a senior in 1966, he led the nation in rushing with 1,329 yards, capping it with 255 yards in his final game. At an imposing and , he was the dominant player in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

, and was the leading rusher for Idaho in all three years of eligibility (1964–66), averaging over 100 yards rushing per game for his collegiate career. He rushed for 36 touchdowns and 2,916 yards in 27 games played as a Vandal, an average of 108 yards per game. McDonald was timed in the 100-yard dash at 9.9 seconds and was a first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. He was also a Big Sky Conference Champion in the

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

(1965 - 56'0.75"/17.09m , 1966 - 56'6"/17.22m) and discus (1965, 169'7"/51.69m) and was a national-class hurdler on the Vandal track team. McDonald played both offense and defense in at the

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

, as well as the piano at Shriners Hospital, and saw significant playing time at fullback in the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

the following week.

Professional career

McDonald was selected in the first round of the

1967 NFL/AFL draft The 1967 NFL/AFL draft was conducted March 14–15, 1967, at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. It was the first common draft between the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL), part of the AFL–NFL merger agreeme ...

by the

, as the 13th overall pick, a personal choice by owner

Edward Bennett Williams Edward Bennett Williams (May 31, 1920 – August 13, 1988) was an American lawyer, businessman, and sports team owner. He received his undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross before studying law at Georgetown University. He worke ...

. He signed a three-year, guaranteed contract for $100,000, but was released in September

Personal life

In 1968, McDonald was arrested by

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

police for having sex with a man in public. Injuries also played a part in cutting his career short, and by 1969 he was out of pro football. McDonald eventually became a junior high music teacher. After an extended battle, he died of complications due to

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

at Parkland Hospital in

, on May 4, 1993, three days before his 49th birthday, with a body weight less than half of his NFL playing weight. The cause of death was originally reported as complications from

sickle cell anemia Sickle cell disease (SCD), also simply called sickle cell, is a group of inherited haemoglobin-related blood disorders. The most common type is known as sickle cell anemia. Sickle cell anemia results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying ...

References

External links