Raymond Earl Fuqua (March 21, 1912 – October 26, 1983) 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 ...

end End, END, Ending, or ENDS may refer to: End Mathematics *End (category theory) * End (topology) * End (graph theory) * End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) * End (endomorphism) Sports and games *End (gridiron football) *End, a division ...

that played for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) in 1935 and 1936. Fuqua played collegiately at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

Biography

Early years

Ray Fuqua was born March 21, 1912, in

Center, Texas Center is a city in Shelby County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,221 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the county seat of Shelby County located in deep East Texas. It was named for its location near the center of Shelby Count ...

,"Ray Fuqua obituary,"
''Abilene Reporter-News,'' Oct. 29, 1983; p. 43. a town of fewer than 2,000 people located about 20 miles from the

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

border. He grew up in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

. Fuqua played sports in Shreveport YMCA leagues starting in 1927, pitching for the "White Sox"

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team and playing right end for the "Navy" football squad.

College career

Fuqua attended

and was a member of the varsity in

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

,W.R. Okeson (ed.), ''Official Intercollegiate Foot Ball Guide, 1933.'' New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1933, pp. 103–107, 177.

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

, and

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

. SMU fielded a very poor team in 1932, finishing with a record of 1–4–1 in the

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 ...

(3–7–2 overall) — a season in which the highlight was a 21–14 loss to

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. Fuqua was elected team captain for the 1933 season. Again, SMU proved less than successful on the field, finishing the year with a record of 2–4 in conference (4–7–1 overall), sixth out of seven teams in the Southwest Conference.W.R. Okeson (ed.), ''Official Intercollegiate Foot Ball Guide, 1934.'' New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1934, pp. 91–93, 175. The two-time SMU captain made a name for himself on a national stage as a senior in 1934, when he made catches to help SMU defeat the powerful Fordham University Rams.Harold "Speed" Johnson (ed.), Who's Who in Major League Football: 1936 Edition. Chicago: B.E. Callahan, 1936; p. 37. "The New Yorkers were almost completely snowed under by flying footballs thrown by the Mustangs," sportswriter Joe Utay approvingly noted, allowing the Dallas visitors to sweep to a 26–14 victory at the venerable

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...

.W.R. Okeson (ed.), ''Spalding's 1935 Official Intercollegiate Foot Ball Guide.'' New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1935, pp. 107–111, 199. While the 1934 team still managed only a third-place finish in the Southwest Conference with a record of 3–2–1, the overall record was excellent, with 8 wins and 2 ties, against only 2 losses. Following the conclusion of the 1934 college football season, Fuqua played in the East-West All-Star game and in the

College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the ...

against the world champion

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

. The year after Fuqua's graduation, SMU would run the table during the regular season, finishing 12–0 before losing to

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

in the 1936 Rose Bowl, 7–0.Fuqua's published obituary erroneously reports that he was part of this team. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the NFL in 1935 and 1936.

Professional career

As there was no player draft in the

before

1936 NFL draft The 1936 NFL draft was the first draft of National Football League (NFL). It took place on February 8, 1936, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The draft was instituted in an effort to end bidding wars among the league's t ...

, independent talent scouting and

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

contracts were the norm in the league during prior years. Fuqua signed a contract to play with the

of the NFL in 1935. Going in, he planned on playing in the league for two years before leaving to enter the cotton business in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. This is exactly what he did, playing for the Dodgers in the

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

seasons.Bob Carroll, et al. (eds.), ''Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League.'' New York: HarperCollins, 1999; p. 810. During his two years in the NFL, Fuqua played in 22 games for the Dodgers, starting 16 times. He played both offense and defense in this era of the

one-platoon system The one-platoon system, also known as "iron man football", is a platoon system, rule-driven substitution pattern in American football whereby the same players were expected to stay on the field for the entire game, playing both offense and defense ...

, catching a total of 9 passes for 84 yards and 1 touchdown in his career.

Life after football

In 1946, with

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

at an end, Fuqua moved to

Ballinger, Texas Ballinger ( ) is a city in Runnels County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,619 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Runnels County. Downtown Ballinger features historic 1800s buildings with shops and restaurants. History Ba ...

, and worked as an automobile dealer.

Death and legacy

Fuqua died October 26, 1983, in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, after a short illness. He was survived by his wife, the former Juliette Adams, whom he married in 1937, as well as a son and a daughter. At the time of his death he was remembered by Doug Cox, school superintendent of Balliger for his generosity in providing money for educational scholarships. "He was very well-liked and a very generous person," Cox said. Fuqua was named a member of the All-1930s team by Southern Methodist University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Red 1912 births 1983 deaths People from Shreveport, Louisiana Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football ends SMU Mustangs football players Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL) players