PHOTO: Jimmy Raye with Dan Fouts at the Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL Awards of Excellence ceremony in 2021 at the Hall of Fame Museum in Canton, Ohio.

By TOM SHANAHAN

The North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame announced on December 18 that Jimmy Raye has been named to its 2025 Hall of Fame class among 11 selections. The 61st annual enshrinement ceremony is May 2 at the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel Joseph S. Koury Convention Center.

Raye was a three-sport athlete at E.E. Smith High School in Fayetteville during segregation. He played football, basketball and baseball. At the 1963 Black Shrine All-Star Football Game played at Durham County Stadium, he was named the MVP for his play as a quarterback and defensive back. The trophy was presented by Michigan State assistant coach Cal Stoll, who was in attendance recruiting Raye.

Raye boarded the Underground Railroad for Michigan State in 1964 from segregated Fayetteville.

He was the South’s first Black quarterback to win a national title while playing for the Spartans’ 1965 and 1966 unbeaten Big Ten title teams that won shares of the national titles. He was a two-year starter and earned All-Big Ten honors as a second-team choice to Purdue All-American Bob Griese. There was only one other Black quarterback in major college football in the 1966 season, Stanford’s Gene Washington. Raye returned as a starting quarterback his senior year in 1967, while Stanford moved Washington to wide receiver.

PHOTO: Jimmy Raye handing off in the 1966 Game of the Century against Notre Dame.

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Raye played two NFL seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams back in the days when Black quarterbacks were routinely switched to other positions. He later blazed a pioneering career among Black coaches when Daugherty hired him as a part-time coach in 1971 and full-time coach in 1972.

Raye moved onto the NFL in 1977 with the San Francisco 49ers. At the time, he was one of only seven Black coaches in a 30-team NFL league. By 1983, Los Angeles Rams coach John Robinson hired him as his offensive coordinator. He was only the second Black coordinator in the NFL. Raye coached 37 years in the NFL, although his prime years to gain a head coach position took place at a time when the NFL avoided hiring Black head coaches.

Throughout Raye’s career he served as a mentor for many young Black coaches. Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy considered Raye a mentor and mentioned him during his Hall of Fame speech.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame honored Raye in 2022 in its inaugural class of NFL Awards of Excellence that recognized contributions of assistant coaches.

Jimmy Raye with the Kansas City Chiefs, 1992-2000.

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An NFL 360/NFL documentary on Raye, THE INDELIBLE LEGACY OF JIMMY RAYE, won a Sports Emmy Award in 2023. The documentary was directed and produced by Osahon Tongo, a former George Tech player.

Raye previously has been named to the Fayetteville Sports Hall of Fame, the Michigan State Hall of Fame as a player in 2018 and MSU’s Hall of Fame as a team member of the 1965 and 1966 teams that were enshrined, in 2024.

Raye’s career is told in my two books about Michigan State leading college football integration and a children’s book:

— RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans. Forward by Tony Dungy.

— THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s. Foreword by Ruffin McNeill.

— BUBBA’S DAD, DUFFY AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S UNDERGROUND RAILROAD.

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Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and frequent contributor to Spartanamag.com. His new book on Michigan State leading college football integration is, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” His first book was “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.”

I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055

Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.

My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.

Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.

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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do

THE RIGHT THING TO DO

The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s

Foreword by Ruffin McNeill

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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.

RAYE OF LIGHT

Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans

Foreword by Tony Dungy

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Click here to purchase my children’s book, Bubba’s Dad, Duffy and College Football’s Underground Railroad

The book for now is only a Kindle version on Amazon. Print and audio platforms available soon.

Tags: Alabama, Bear Bryant, Duffy Daugherty, Michigan State