Johnathan Gray
{{Short description|American football player (born 1993)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{similar names|Jonathan Gray (disambiguation){{!}}Jonathan Grey}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
|name=Johnathan Gray
|current_team=
|number= 32
|image=
|image_size=
|alt=
|caption=
|position=Running back
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1993|04|22}}
|birth_place=Aledo, Texas, U.S.
|height_ft=5
|height_in=11
|weight_lbs=207
|highlights=
- Gatorade National Men's Athlete of the Year (2012)
- Gatorade National Player of the Year (2012)
- 2011 USA Today High School All-American (2011)
- Mr. Texas Football (2011)
|high_school=Aledo (Aledo, Texas)
|college=Texas (2012–2015)
|undraftedyear=2016
|pastteams=
- Frisco Fighters ({{IFL Year|2021}})
|status=
}}
Johnathan Gray (born April 22, 1993) is a former American football running back. He played for the Frisco Fighters of the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2021. He played college football for the University of Texas at Austin. He attended Aledo High School in Aledo, Texas. Gray earned a 2011 USA Today High School All-American nomination, and was also named Gatorade National Player of the Year.[http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/12/3655997/gray-receives-gatorade-national.html Gray receives Gatorade national award] After becoming the first junior to win ESPN HS{{'s}} Mr. Football USA,{{cite web|url=http://rise.espn.go.com/football/articles/Honors/110120-Mr-Football-USA-Announcement.aspx|title=Aledo's Johnathan Gray becomes first junior to win Mr. Football USA|access-date=2012-01-28|date=2011-01-19|work=ESPN HS|author=Jennings, Randy & Mark Tennis|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112215048/http://rise.espn.go.com/football/articles/Honors/110120-Mr-Football-USA-Announcement.aspx|archive-date=2012-01-12}} he became the first two-time winner of the award following the 2011 high school football season.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/high-school/football/post/_/id/4186/johnathan-gray-named-mr-football-usa|title=Johnathan Gray named Mr. Football USA|access-date=2012-01-28|date=2011-12-21|work=ESPN HS|author=McCormick, Jim}}
Gray chose the University of Texas over Arkansas, Auburn, TCU, and Texas A&M.
Early life
Gray attended Aledo High School in Aledo, Texas, where he broke the all-time high school touchdown record with 205 eclipsing Mike Hart's record of 204 touchdowns.{{cite web|last=Jennings|first=Randy|title=Johnathan Gray sets high school mark|url=https://www.espn.com/dallas/story/_/id/7363010/aledo-high-johnathan-gray-sets-career-touchdown-mark|publisher=ESPN Dallas|access-date=December 23, 2011|date=December 17, 2011}}{{cite news|last=McDaniel|first=Jason|title=Aledo's Gray breaks career TDs record as Manvel falls in state final|url=http://www.chron.com/sports/highschool/article/Aledo-s-Gray-breaks-career-TDs-record-as-Manvel-2409510.php|access-date=December 23, 2011|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=December 17, 2011}} As a junior, he rushed for 323 yards and eight touchdowns in the Texas Class 4A Division II championship game against La Marque High School on December 17 at Cowboys Stadium, which gave him a total of 59 rushing touchdowns for the 2010 high school football season and surpassed Kenneth Hall's single-season record of 57 set in 1953. Gray had rushed for 252 yards and four touchdowns in the 2009 state championship victory over Brenham High School. In 2011, Gray led Aledo to its third straight state championship with 241 rushing yards.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/dallas/high-school/post/_/id/10042/bishop-leads-aledo-to-third-straight-state-title|title=Bishop, Gray lift Aledo to 3rd straight state title|access-date=2012-01-28|date=2011-12-17|work=ESPN HS|author=Andrews, Jeff}} Along the way, he scored his 205th touchdown establishing the national high school career record. He finished his high school career first all-time in touchdowns and second all-time in points scored.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/high-school/football/post/_/id/2254/all-time-career-points-and-touchdowns-leaders|title=All-time points and touchdowns leaders|access-date=2012-01-28|date=2011-12-17|work=ESPN HS}}
| class="wikitable"
|+ High school rushing stats{{cite web|title=Johnathan Gray|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Johnathan-Gray-103880;_ylt=AuTGhNDJX1SWwiFhaSNg30dGPZB4|publisher=Rivals.com|access-date=December 23, 2011}} ! Year!!Attempts!!Yards!!Average!!Touchdowns | ||||
| 2008 | 140 | 969 | 6.9 | 15 |
| 2009 | 372 | 2,798 | 7.5 | 50 |
| 2010 | 351 | 3,223 | 9.2 | 59 |
| 2011 | 346 | 3,891 | 11.2 | 65 |
| Total | 1,209 | 10,881 | 8.7 | 189 |
Gray was also on the school's track & field team, where he competed as a sprinter. He was a 3 time district champion in the 100-meter dash. As a junior in 2009, he won the 100 meters at the 4th Johnny Perkins Pirate Relays, with a career-best time of 10.58 seconds.{{Cite web|url=http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=67935#5378|title = Track & Field, Cross Country Results, Statistics}} He also competed in the 200 meters, placing fifth at the 2009 Elk Relays.{{Cite web|url=http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=67933#5378|title = Track & Field, Cross Country Results, Statistics}}
{{College Athlete Recruit Start|40=yes|collapse=no|year=2011}}
{{College Athlete Recruit Entry
| recruit = Johnathan Gray
| position = RB
| hometown = Aledo, Texas
| highschool = Aledo HS
| feet = 5
| inches = 10
| weight = 195
| 40 = 4.53
| commitdate = April 22, 2011
| scout stars = 5
| rivals stars = 5
| espn grade = 85
}}
{{College Athlete Recruit End
| year = 2012
| rivals ref title =
| scout ref title =
| espn ref title =
| rivals school =
| scout s =
| espn schoolid =
| scout overall = 1 (RB)
| rivals overall = 1 (RB)
| espn overall = 1 (RB)
| accessdate = 2011-12-23
| bball = no
}}
College career
Gray tore his right Achilles tendon in 2013, and his left Achilles in 2015.{{cite web |url=https://nflmocks.com/2016/03/30/johnathan-gray-rb-texas-2016-nfl-draft-scouting-report/ |title=Johnathan Gray, RB, Texas: 2016 NFL Draft Scouting Report |last=Lambert |first=Erik |date=March 30, 2016 |accessdate=August 2, 2021}} The tendon tears put Gray's career on hold, and Gray went undrafted in the 2016 NFL draft.{{cite web |url=https://www.nfl.com/news/top-undrafted-free-agents-following-the-2016-nfl-draft-0ap3000000659023 |title=Top undrafted free agents following the 2016 NFL Draft |last=Brandt |first=Gil |publisher=National Football League |date=April 30, 2016 |accessdate=August 2, 2021}}
=College statistics=
| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan=2|Year !! rowspan=2|GP–GS !! colspan=5|Rushing !! colspan=5|Receiving | ||||||||||
| Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Rec | Rec–Yards | Avg | TD | Long | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 13-5
| 149 | 701 | 4.7 | 3 | 49 | 11 | 151 | 13.7 | 1 | 34 |
| 2013 | 9-8
| 159 | 780 | 4.9 | 4 | 45 | 15 | 61 | 4.1 | 0 | 10 |
| 2014 | 13–13
| 147 | 637 | 4.3 | 7 | 42 | 20 | 122 | 6.1 | 0 | 17 |
| 2015 | 11–11
| 123 | 489 | 4.3 | 3 | 46 | 6 | 84 | 14.0 | 0 | 26 |
| style="background:#555; font-weight:bold; color:black;"
! colspan=1|Totals ! 43-36 !! 578 !! 2607 !! 4.5 !! 17 !! 49 !! 52 !! 418 !! 8.0 !! 1 !! 34 |
Professional career
Despite being injured while preparing for the draft, several NFL teams showed interest in Gray as a free agent following the draft.{{cite web |title=Johnathan Gray |url=https://friscofighters.com/sports/football/roster/johnathan-gray/50 |access-date=14 January 2025}}{{cite news |url=http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/article100082642.html |title=Former Aledo great Johnathan Gray hasn't given up on NFL dream |last=Martinez |first=Matthew |date=September 5, 2016 |accessdate=August 2, 2021}} In 2017, after demonstrating a 4.5-second 40-yard dash and a 36-inch vertical leap at the annual Texas Pro Day workout, Gray landed a tryout with the New York Giants.{{cite web |url=https://www.burntorangenation.com/2017/5/2/15507288/johnathan-gray-minicamp-tryout-new-york-giants-texas-longhorns |title=Former Texas RB Johnathan Gray lands tryout with the New York Giants |publisher=Burnt Orange Nation |last=Eberts |first=Wescott |date=May 2, 2017 |accessdate=August 2, 2021}} After attending the Giants' rookie camp, Gray received invites to rookie camps for the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League; however, Gray ultimately never played for any of them.{{cite news |url=https://www.star-telegram.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/mac-engel/article215786400.html |title=Longhorns running back Johnathan Gray on life after football |publisher=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=August 7, 2018 |accessdate=August 2, 2021}}
On April 8, 2021, the Frisco Fighters announced that they had signed Gray for the 2021 season.{{cite web |url=https://friscofighters.com/news/2021/4/8/general-star-rb-johnathan-gray-returns-to-football-with-the-fighters.aspx |title=Star RB Johnathan Gray Returns to Football with the Fighters |publisher=Frisco Fighters |date=April 8, 2021 |accessdate=August 2, 2021}} He played for them for one season, helping them to a league-best 15-3 record and into the second round of the playoffs.{{cite news |last1=Mauch |first1=Rick |title=Gray working to coach others to greatness |url=https://www.community-news.com/stories/gray-working-to-coach-others-to-greatness,8374 |access-date=14 January 2025 |date=10 October 2022}}
Coaching
Following his one season in the IFL, he retired as a player and became an assistant coach for his alma mater Aledo High School.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://texassports.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=5895&path=football Texas Longhorns bio]
{{Mr. Football USA}}
{{Gatorade Football Player of the Year}}
{{Gatorade National Athlete of the Year}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Johnathan}}
Category:People from Aledo, Texas
Category:American football running backs
Category:Aledo High School (Texas) alumni
Category:Texas Longhorns football players
Category:Frisco Fighters players