Reggie Gray (born April 29, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

and

kickoff returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

Early life

Gray attended

Morgan Park High School Morgan Park High School is a four-year public high school and middle school located in the Morgan Park, Chicago, Morgan Park neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1916, Morgan Park is a part o ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he was a team captain and led his team to the 2001 City Championship, in which they defeated Dunbar in a shootout. He scored the game-winning touchdown on a 45-yard bomb with 41 seconds left in the game. He was an All-State wide receiver, defensive back, and kick returner. He amassed over 2000 all purpose yards, with 25 touchdowns. Had 10 returned kicks for touchdowns, and intercepted 10 passes.

College career

In college, Reggie played receiver for the

Western Illinois Leathernecks The Western Illinois Leathernecks are the teams and athletes that represent Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois, in NCAA Division I sports. The school is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. Its football team is a member ...

, wearing jersey #85.

Professional career

Bloomington Extreme

Reggie played two seasons for the

Bloomington Extreme The Bloomington Edge was a professional indoor football team based in Bloomington, Illinois. While it was in operation, the team hosted home games at Grossinger Motors Arena. Originally named the Bloomington Extreme, the team was a member of Uni ...

before signing a contract on February 8, 2008 with the Chicago Rush of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. The Extreme were associated with the league known as

United Indoor Football United Indoor Football (UIF) was an indoor American football league in the United States that operated from 2005 to 2008. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion (the Dayton Warbirds, which never played a ...

until the autumn of 2008 when that league joined with the

Intense Football League The Intense Football League (IFL) was a professional indoor football minor league that began operations in 2004. Its focus was in Texas, but it was notable for being the first professional football league to place a franchise in Alaska. History ...

to form the newest incarnation of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

Chicago Rush

Reggie was a member of the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during w ...

during the 2008 off-season, failing to make the Rush roster.

Chicago Slaughter

With the Chicago Rush shut down by the AFL's decision to suspend its season, Gray joined several of his Rush team members in a move to the

Chicago Slaughter The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joine ...

of the rival

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor American football, indoor American football, football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as ...

. During that season, he led the league in

all-purpose yards All-purpose yards or all-purpose yardage is a gridiron football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing ...

with 1,318. The Slaughter went undefeated, winning the 2009

CIFL Championship Game The CIFL championship game was the annual championship game of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). In 2006, it was the meeting of the two semifinal game winners. Following the 2007 and 2008 season, the game was between the Great Lakes ...

58–48 over the

Fort Wayne Freedom The Fort Wayne Freedom was a professional indoor football team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The team was most recently a member of the Continental Indoor Football League, but originally began play in 2003 as an expansion team in the National ...

. Gray had a 46-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Gray returned to the Slaughter in 2010 after being cut by the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

. The Slaughter moved to the larger

in 2010.

Chicago Rush

Gray signed with the

for the 2011

season. He was reunited with college teammate

Russ Michna Russell Walter Michna (born February 3, 1981) is a former arena football quarterback. A two-time league champion of the United Football League (UFL), he has played several leagues, the National Football League (NFL), Canadian Football League ( ...

and in his first year on the regular roster, Gray caught 130 passes for 1,969 yards and 49 receiving touchdowns. With 4 more kickoff returns for touchdowns, Gray finished the year with 53 total touchdowns. The receptions and receiving yards broke Bobby Sippio's Rush franchise records. Gray was voted on Second Team

All-Arena An All-Arena Team, an all-star team consisting of the best players of their position was selected every season in the Arena Football League (AFL). Teams * 1987 All-Arena Team, 1987 * 1988 All-Arena Team, 1988 * 1989 All-Arena Team, 1989 * 1990 Al ...

and made the All-Ironman Team as a WR/KR. Following the 2013 season. Gray was named a second team All-Arena selection for the 3rd time in his career.

San Jose SaberCats

On September 11, 2013, Gray was assigned to the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

. He was named the ArenaBowl MVP when San Jose won the ArenaBowl in 2015.

Jacksonville Sharks

On May 31, 2016, Gray was assigned to the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. They were members of the Are ...

Qingdao Clipper

Gray was selected by the Qingdao Clipper of the

China Arena Football League The China Arena Football League (), often abbreviated as the CAFL, was a professional arena football league that played its games in the People's Republic of China. It featured players from the now-defunct Arena Football League (AFL) and other ...

(CAFL) in the ninth round of the

2016 CAFL Draft The 2016 CAFL season, the first season in the history of the China Arena Football League (CAFL), began on October 1, 2016. On November 6, the Beijing Lions defeated the Qingdao Clipper to win the first China Bowl. Draft The league held its ...

. He earned All-Pro North Division All-Star honors after catching 42 passes for 691 yards and 13 touchdowns. He is listed on the Clipper's roster for the 2018 season.

Baltimore Brigade

Gray was assigned to the

Baltimore Brigade The Baltimore Brigade was a professional arena football team based in Baltimore, Maryland, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Royal Farms Arena. The franchise was owned by Ted Leonsi ...

in January 2017.

Washington Valor

On March 30, 2018, he was assigned to the

Washington Valor The Washington Valor were a professional arena football team based in Washington, D.C. that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2017 to 2019. The team's home arena was the Capital One Arena. The Valor were owned by Ted Leonsis throug ...

. On April 24, 2019, Gray was assigned to the Valor once again.

References

External links

Chicago Rush bio page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Reggie 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football wide receivers Western Illinois Leathernecks football players Chicago Slaughter players Bloomington Extreme players Chicago Rush players San Jose SaberCats players Jacksonville Sharks players Qingdao Clipper players Baltimore Brigade players Washington Valor players Intense Football League players