Prentice Marcellus McCray, Jr. (born March 1, 1951 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

) is a former

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 ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

in 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 ...

. He was drafted by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

in the 8th round of the 1973 NFL Draft after playing collegiately at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the U ...

. He was cut by Detroit during training camp in 1973 and did not play that entire year. The follow spring, the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

signed him as a free agent. McCray was selected to the 1974 NFL All-Rookie Team as a member of the Patriots, starting all 14 games with three interceptions for 61 yards and a fumble recovery. His best and most memorable season was in 1976. During a game versus the New York Jets on November 21st at

Shea Stadium Shea Stadium (), formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens, New York City.

, he intercepted

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college fo ...

twice and ran back both interceptions for touchdowns totaling 118 yards. He was named to the Patriots 70’s All-Decade team in 2009.

External links

New England Patriots bio
1951 births Living people Players of American football from Los Angeles American football safeties Arizona State Sun Devils football players New England Patriots players Detroit Lions players {{defensiveback-1950s-stub