Curtis Sidney Bray (May 9, 1970 – January 15, 2014) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He was a coach for

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University (WKU) is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, United States. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a few decades earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glas ...

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

, the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

and

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

Early years

Bray attended Gateway High School in

Monroeville, Pennsylvania Monroeville is a Home rule municipality (Pennsylvania), home rule municipality in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a suburb with mixed residential and commercial developments located about east of Pittsburgh. As of the 202 ...

, where he was a star athlete in football, basketball, and track. Bray followed in the foot steps of his father and uncles who played professionally with teams including the Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins, Toronto Argonauts, Memphis Southmen, and the N.Y. Giants. He was a starter in football from his freshman year of high school and contributed to record 33 victories of the 1984–1986 season teams. Bray was the first athlete in Gateway history to acquire 12 letters in his 4 years at Gateway. Further Bray led the Gators basketball team to the WPIAL playoffs and also State Playoffs in three seasons and won the state championship for javelin in his senior year. Bray was an academic All-American and received the Monroeville Citizen of the Year award. In 1987, he became the first defensive player to win the Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year Award.

College career

Bray was recruited nationally by top universities including Pitt, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Penn State and demonstrated academic prowess by being accepted by Ivy League schools including Yale, Harvard and the Univ. of Pennsylvania. Bray ultimately stayed close to home and played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

at the

starting his first game of his freshman year. During his career he had 170 tackles, despite battling through numerous injuries during his junior and senior season.

Death

On the morning of January 15, 2014, Bray collapsed while going to a meeting due to a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

and later died.

References

External links

Iowa State Cyclones bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bray, Curtis 1970 births 2014 deaths American football linebackers Pittsburgh Panthers football players Duquesne Dukes football coaches Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football coaches Villanova Wildcats football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Temple Owls football coaches Iowa State Cyclones football coaches Deaths from pulmonary embolism People from Monroeville, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Allegheny County, Pennsylvania