James Russell Dray (born December 31, 1986) is 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 wit ...

coach and former

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

who is currently the tight ends coach for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

of 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 ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and was drafted by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

in the seventh round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the fir ...

. He also played 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 ( ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

, 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 ...

Early years

Born in

New Milford, New Jersey New Milford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 16,341,Paramus Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

and played high school football at

Bergen Catholic High School Bergen Catholic High School is an all-male Roman Catholic high school in Oradell, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Col ...

Playing career

Arizona Cardinals

On July 8, 2010, the Cardinals signed Dray to a four-year contract. The team did not announce the terms of the deal, but Adam Caplan of Foxsports.com reported that the contract was worth $1.84 million with a $49,000 signing bonus.

Cleveland Browns

On March 13, 2014, he signed with the

. Dray's first season with the Browns ended with 17 receptions, for 242 yards, and 1 touchdown on 28 targets. In Dray's 2015 season, he had 6 receptions for 61 yards. On February 18, 2016, Dray was released.

Buffalo Bills

Dray signed with the

on March 16, 2016. He was released on October 4, 2016.

San Francisco 49ers

Dray signed with the

on December 19, 2016.

Arizona Cardinals (second stint)

On September 15, 2017, Dray signed with the Cardinals, but was released four days later.

Coaching career

Stanford

Following his playing career, Dray started his coaching career at his alma mater Stanford as an offensive assistant.

Cleveland Browns

In 2019, Dray was hired by the

as an offensive quality control coach.

Arizona Cardinals

After a year with the Browns, Dray went to the Cardinals at the same position.

Chicago Bears

Dray was hired as the tight ends coach under new Bears head coach

Matt Eberflus Matthew Charles Eberflus (born May 17, 1970) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts from 2018 t ...

and new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy on February 6, 2022.

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bioArizona Cardinals bioStanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dray, Jim 1986 births Living people American football tight ends Arizona Cardinals players Bergen Catholic High School alumni Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns players San Francisco 49ers players People from New Milford, New Jersey People from Paramus, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey Stanford Cardinal football players Chicago Bears coaches