Mike Jay is a former

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 ...

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 ...

for

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

High school career

Jay played his high school football in Torrington, Wyoming, excelling in all sports winning Honorable Mention High School Football All-America in 1969.

College career

He began his college football career playing for the short-lived program of Hiram Scott College in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. The Scotties did not have a losing season during their brief existence (1966–71), but the program was shut down after the 1971 season when the school went bankrupt. Jay was the Scotties' starting quarterback during Hiram Scott's final season and led the team to a 6-2-1 record (including a win against Boise State) running an offense patterned after

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

's. Following the season, the Scotties were selected to play in the Mineral Bowl, but were unable to accept the invitation.

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

, a team that Hiram Scott had beaten that season, played in their place. Hiram Scott coach Dick Beechner called Jay one of the best players to ever play for Hiram Scott and said, "He was a good option quarterback and when he stepped into the huddle we knew the play he called probably going to be successful. He had that leadership ability." After the Hiram Scott program was shut down, Jay found his way into the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, where he played quarterback for the 1972 Quantico Marines, who finished the season with an 8–4 record. The team was eliminated following that season in the wake of defense budget cuts, as the

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

War waned. Jay was recruited heavily in 1973, as he still had three remaining years of collegiate eligibility. In order to pursue his dreams to be a veterinarian, Jay transferred to

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. He led the team in passing his sophomore season with 682 yards while running Emory Bellard's wishbone offense and sharing starting duties with 17-year-old freshman phenom David Walker. He lost the starting job to Walker the following season only to regain it once again his senior year. He was the starting quarterback for the Aggies during his senior season in 1975 and led them to a season high national ranking of No. 2 (in the 12/1/75 AP poll), a 10-game winning streak including a 20-10 win against the rival No. 5 ranked

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

, a

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference also included schools from Oklaho ...

championship and a

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic Cit ...

appearance against

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

in Trojan coach John McKay's last game. After the season, Jay was voted by his teammates as the winner of the Aggie Heart Award. The Aggie Heart Award is presented to a senior who has completed his eligibility and displayed intangibles such as effort, desire, determination, competitiveness, leadership and courage. The Heart Award is voted on by the entire Aggie football team and is considered the highest award that a senior athlete can receive at Texas A&M. At last look, Jay still held a little-known record from per play yards from scrimmage of more than 10+, the only aggie in history to average double digit yards every time he touched the ball.

Personal life

After football, Jay became a successful entrepreneur, business consultant, and author. He has two daughters.

References

External links

1975 AP Poll

Texas game 1975
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, Mike Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football quarterbacks Hiram Scott Scotties football players Quantico Marines Devil Dogs football players Texas A&M Aggies football players People from Torrington, Wyoming Players of American football from Wyoming