MarQueis Gray (born November 7, 1989) is an American former 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He played

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, and was originally signed by the

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as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He has also been a member of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

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, Miami Dolphins, and

Early life

Gray went to Ben Davis High School in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. 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, as well as the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the nation and the No. 1 player in the state of

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by Rivals. He received four stars from Scout.com, which ranks him as the nation's No. 14 high school quarterback, and ESPN.com'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 Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

on January 5, 2008. Gray also had offers of football scholarships from the

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, the

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, the

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, Kentucky University,

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, the

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, and

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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 A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He had a breakout game against Ohio State 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, 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

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, Gray surpassed Rickey Foggie 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, 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.

San Francisco 49ers (first stint)

After going undrafted at the 2013 NFL draft, Gray signed with the

. Initially Gray worked out as a halfback but soon moved to tight end. Gray was later cut by the team on August 30.

Cleveland Browns

On September 1, 2013, Gray was claimed off waivers by the

. He was used mostly as a blocking tight end and a fullback/ H-back, and was also the emergency third string

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. 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

, but was waived by the team on November 19, 2014, to make room for the newly acquired Ben Tate. He caught one pass with the Vikings for 16 yards, in their loss against the

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in Week 5.

Buffalo Bills

On November 20, 2014, Gray was claimed off waivers by the

, 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. 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

. He was released during final roster cutdowns on September 5.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

Minnesota Golden Gophers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Marqueis 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Indianapolis 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 sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen