Ray Graves

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Samuel Ray Graves (born December 31, 1918) was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League and former head coach of the University of Florida football team. He was born in Rockwood, Tennessee.

Playing career

Graves played college football at the University of Tennessee, where he was captain in 1941. He was then drafted during the ninth round of the 1942 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, for whom he would play with for three seasons. This includes the temporary merger of the Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1943 known as the Steagles. The Steagles were formed when the National Football League had to limit rosters and cut back to eight teams because of World War II.

Coaching career

Graves started his coaching career as a defensive coach at Georgia Tech, under head coach Bobby Dodd.^[1] Under these two coaches, along with offensive coach Frank Broyles, the Yellow Jackets won the 1951 Orange Bowl and the 1952 Sugar Bowl.

Graves was hired as Florida's head coach in 1960 to replace fellow Tennessee alumnus Bob Woodruff. Graves led Florida to five bowl appearances during his tenure and coached several outstanding players at Florida, including 1966 Heisman Trophy recipient Steve Spurrier (1963-1966) and NFL Hall of Fame inductee Jack Youngblood (1968-1970).

One of the highlights of the Graves era was a 10-6 upset victory over Bear Bryant's 1963 Alabama team at Tuscaloosa. Alabama would not lose again in Tuscaloosa until 1982. Perhaps his greatest legacy, Graves invited Dr. Robert Cade, then a Florida professor, to begin the experiments that led to the invention of Gatorade, and informed friend and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Hank Stram of the drink's effectiveness, a move that would eventually lead to Gatorade becoming the official sports drink of the NFL.

In 1969, despite achieving an all time record at Florida of 70-31-4,^[2] Graves stepped down to make room for Doug Dickey to return to his alma mater as head coach for the 1970 season. Graves would serve as athletic director at Florida from 1971 through 1980.

Graves would remain the winningest coach in Florida football history until his former player, Steve Spurrier, surpassed him in 1996^[3]. The Athletic Office at University of Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was named in honor of Graves during the 2005 Gator Football season.

Graves now resides in Tampa, Florida with his wife, Opal.

Steagles 60th Anniversary

On August 17, 2003 the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Steagles in pregame and halftime ceremonies for the 2003 season opener at Heinz Field. The Steelers recreated the era in their "Turn Back the Clock" ceremonies, including broadcasting in black and white on the Jumbotron and airing World War II footage during the national anthem. All live entertainment was done to reflect the 1940s.

Graves was on-hand as six of the nine surviving members of that team were honored, by the Steelers during halftime. ^[4] During the festivities the Steelers gave each of the six members, a replica Steagles jersey to wear. The jersey worn by Graves was returned to the team after the festivities. It was sold by the Steelers a month later, to Bill Ponko, a private collector of sports memorabilia to benefit a local charity.

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