Ray Seals
{{Short description|American football player (1965–2025)}}
{{for|the boxer|Sugar Ray Seales}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name =
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| number = 98, 97, 99
| position = Defensive end
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1965|6|17}}
| birth_place = Syracuse, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|4|4|1965|6|17}}
| death_place = Tampa, Florida, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 3
| weight_lbs = 293
| high_school = Henninger (Syracuse)
| pastteams =
- Syracuse Express (1986–1987)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers ({{NFL Year|1988}}–{{NFL Year|1990}})
- Detroit Lions (1990)
- Indianapolis Colts (1990)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers ({{NFL Year|1991}}–{{NFL Year|1993}})
- Pittsburgh Steelers ({{NFL Year|1994}}–{{NFL Year|1996}})
- Carolina Panthers ({{NFL Year|1997}})
- Cincinnati Bengals ({{NFL Year|1998}})*
| pfr = SealRa21
}}
Raymond Bernard Seals (June 17, 1965 – April 4, 2025) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He was notable for being one of the rare players to have made it to the NFL without ever having attended college.{{Cite web|last=Jeff.Hartman|date=August 20, 2016|title=How former Steelers DE Ray Seals made it to the NFL without playing college football|url=https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/pittsburgh-steelers-nfl-features-news-blog-long-form/2016/8/20/12553506/former-steelers-de-ray-seals-explains-how-he-made-it-to-the-nfl|access-date=December 3, 2021|website=Behind the Steel Curtain|language=en}} Seals started in Super Bowl XXX{{Cite web |title=Super Bowl XXX - Dallas Cowboys vs. Pittsburgh Steelers - January 28th, 1996 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199601280dal.htm |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.{{Cite news|date=March 18, 1994|title=SPORTS PEOPLE: FOOTBALL; Steelers Add Ex-Buccaneer|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/18/sports/sports-people-football-steelers-add-ex-buccaneer.html|access-date=December 3, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}
Playing career
Seals lettered in football at Anthony A. Henninger High School in Syracuse, New York.
Seals went from playing for the minor-league Syracuse Express of the Empire Football League{{Cite web |last=Kramer |first=Lindsay |date=2025-04-05 |title=Ray Seals, former Henninger lineman who skipped college en route to NFL, dies at age 59: 'Man, he was rare' |url=https://www.syracuse.com/highschoolsports/2025/04/ray-seals-former-henninger-lineman-who-skipped-college-en-route-to-nfl-dies-at-age-59.html |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=syracuse |language=en}} to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1989. He went to the Steelers in 1994 as a free agent and played two seasons as their starting right defensive end.{{Cite web |title=1994 Pittsburgh Steelers Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/1994.htm |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He was injured in 1996, his third season with the Steelers, and finished with Carolina in 1997.
Seals was famous for batting away a pass by then rookie quarterback Brett Favre, only to have it be caught by Favre himself, for the first completion in his long and storied career.{{Cite web|date=July 13, 2015|title=Ray Seals once again fails to hear the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame call his name|url=https://www.syracuse.com/poliquin/2015/07/post_15.html|access-date=April 10, 2023|website=Syracuse.com|language=en}}
Personal life and death
Seals was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992.{{Cite web|date=June 8, 2016|title=Ray Seals goes from doorman to Super Bowl to Hall of Fame|url=https://www.syracuse.com/poliquin/2016/06/ray_seals_has_gone_from_doorman_to_super_bowl_to_syraucuse_sports_hall_of_fame.html|access-date=December 3, 2021|website=syracuse|language=en}} Seals's cousin, Jonny Gammage, was killed after a traffic stop by Brentwood police officers in 1995.{{Cite web|date=November 16, 1995|title=Death of Football Player's Cousin Raises Cry of Racism : Police: Pittsburgh Steeler's relative died after struggle with white officers. Charges are weighed amid protests.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-16-mn-3792-story.html|access-date=December 3, 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last=Ap|date=November 5, 1995|title=5 Police Officers in Pittsburgh Facing Charges in Beating Death|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/05/us/5-police-officers-in-pittsburgh-facing-charges-in-beating-death.html|access-date=December 3, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}
Seals died in Tampa, Florida on April 4, 2025, at the age of 59.{{cite web |url=https://www.si.com/nfl/steelers/news/former-pittsburgh-steelers-ray-seals-dies |title=Former Steelers Defender Dies |date=April 4, 2025 |first1=Noah |last1=Strackbein |website=Sports Illustrated}}[https://obits.syracuse.com/us/obituaries/syracuse/name/raymond-seals-obituary?id=58231960 Raymond B. Seals]
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name| 2213301}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seals, Ray}}
Category:American football defensive ends
Category:Carolina Panthers players
Category:Players of American football from Syracuse, New York
Category:Pittsburgh Steelers players
Category:Tampa Bay Buccaneers players
Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen