Raye Stephen Renfro (June 1, 1940 – June 7, 1978) was 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 ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete for Columbia Basin College and

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

Early years

Born in Houston, his family moved to Portland, where he attended

Jefferson High School This is a list of memorials to Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States and the author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Buildings Elementary schools *Jefferson Elementary School, in Cammack Village, Arkansas *Thoma ...

, starring as a two-way football player, in

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. In 1957 and 1958, he contributed to his team achieving a 23-0 record, including two Class A-1 football state championships. The Democrats 1958 team is regarded as one of the greatest in Oregon prep history, in that season he broke the Portland Interscholastic League record with 24

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

s and was part of a

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the qu ...

that included him at fullback,

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Terry Baker Terry Wayne Baker (born May 5, 1941) is a former American football and basketball player. He played college football and basketball at Oregon State University in Corvallis, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. Baker played as a quarterb ...

( Heisman Trophy winner at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degree ...

), his younger brother

Mel Renfro Melvin Lacy Renfro (born December 30, 1941) is a former American football player, a cornerback who spent his entire 14-year career in the National Football League (NFL) with the Dallas Cowboys. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ea ...

at halfback (future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coac ...

r) and halfback

Mickey Hergert Mickey Hergert (born December 30, 1941) is a former American football running back and baseball player and coach in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics with Lewis & Clark College. Early years Hergert attended Jefferson High Scho ...

(one of the leading ground gainers in the nation at

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Originally chartered in 1867 as the Albany Collegiate Institute in Albany, Oregon, the college was relocate ...

). He received Prep All-American honors as a senior. In track he was the state record holder in the

broad jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and in the 120-yard

high hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. He also was the state champion in the 100-yard dash (9.9 seconds in 1959) and in the 880-yard relay team.

College career

Because of academic problems, he enrolled at Columbia Basin College from 1960 to 1961. Renfro for his time had an excellent size/speed ratio, being 6–3 feet, around 210 pounds and could run the 100 yard in 9.6 seconds. He was the starter at fullback, sharing the running duties with halfback Jim Wickwire. In his first year the football team went 8-1, losing only to

Wenatchee Valley College Wenatchee Valley College (WVC) is a public community college in Wenatchee, Washington. The college provides students with adult education classes, certifications, associate degrees, and four bachelor's degrees. WVC's primary service district is ...

, which was coached at the time by future

Don Coryell Donald David Coryell (October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986. We ...

. He transferred to

in 1962, reuniting with his former high school coach Tom DeSylvia. He didn't graduate from college, choosing to drop out of school.

Portland Thunderbirds (semi-pro football)

In 1966 he signed with the Portland Thunderbirds of the Pacific Coast League, where he was used as a two-way player.

Personal life

Raye married Virginia Smith on October 21, 1972 in Portland, OR adopting her three sons Edward, Brent, and Scott. After years of trying for a child of their own, on October 17, 1975 they welcomed a daughter Candeese Rae Renfro. Soon after she was born, Raye succumbed to his battle with Pancreatitis and Diabetes. He died on June 7, 1978, he was 38 years old.

References

External links

Portland Interscholastic League Hall of Fame bio

In a Class Alone
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renfro, Raye 1940 births 1978 deaths Sportspeople from Portland, Oregon Players of American football from Portland, Oregon Players of American football from Houston Track and field athletes from Portland, Oregon Track and field athletes from Houston American male sprinters American male long jumpers Jefferson High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Columbia Basin Hawks football players Portland State Vikings football players Deaths from pancreatitis Deaths from diabetes