The Fort Lewis College football team will take the field in its season finale Saturday without one of its starting offensive linemen, out with a partially torn meniscus.
But for Arthur Ray, Jr., a partially torn meniscus, while disappointing and a pain, is a bump in the road.
It’s nothing compared to the mountain he had to climb to even be playing football today.
Rewind to 2007. Ray was a highly regarded offensive line prospect from perennial state-title contender Mount Carmel High School in Chicago – the same school that produced NFL talent such as Donovan McNabb and Simeon Rice – and had signed on to play with Michigan State, taking classes and preparing for his freshman season in the fall.
That’s when they found the tumor on his left leg, and Ray’s life changed. Cancer.
He pulled out of school to have surgery to remove the tumor and begin rehabilitation. Then came a bone-graft surgery to repair the leg. Then another. Then another.
Suddenly, the 6-3, 300-pound budding Big Ten prospect was spending all his time on crutches – two years, in fact, before an additional year and a half of rehab, starting first with just getting the strength back in his leg to walk properly, then walking as often as possible.
All the while, doctors were telling Ray to just focus on getting well. Football didn’t seem to be in the cards.
“They talked about it constantly,” Ray said. “I was constantly asking if my leg heals up well, what will happen? And they kept throwing football out the window. They just kept denying the question, kept pushing it away and saying, ‘Let’s just worry about getting you healthy.’”
Ray, however, begged to differ, and he began putting the work in to get back on the field. He participated in Michigan State’s 2011 spring game, then finally made his long-awaited return to game action in the season opener in 2011 against Youngstown State and saw action against Florida Atlantic and Indiana. His return earned him the Discover Orange Bowl/Football Writers Association of America Courage Award and Michigan State’s “Biggie” Munn award for most inspirational player.
“Man, it was challenging. But I was up for it. I was ready to see Big Ten football up close,” Ray said. “I had watched it for so many years, and it’s different when you’re out there. And me not playing football for four years prior to that, I wanted to see how much of it did I still have and how far did I still have to go.”
But while Ray was out, time didn’t stop for the Spartans. Not knowing whether he’d ever see the field again, MSU’s depth chart continued to grow, with more recruits lining up in front of him for playing time. In the meantime, Ray graduated from Michigan State with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 2012, and with his chances for meaningful playing time growing limited, he started looking for a new place to ply his trade.
Only this time, instead of schools seeking him out, he was selling himself, sending emails and feelers and highlight film out to schools.
It was at this point an old friend from Michigan State came calling. Former MSU teammate and current Skyhawk Jordan Benton turned Ray on to FLC, at the time looking for talent to switch the trajectory of a program coming off an 0-10 season.
Former head coach Cesar Rivas-Sandoval and former FLC offensive line coach Brad Wilson made overtures to Ray, who eventually signed on to join the Skyhawks for the next two seasons.
“Fort Lewis fought for me, and I appreciated it,” Ray said. “A lot of people, they wanted me to come play there, but they were real iffy about my eligibility.”
The transition to Division II football, a new school and new teammates wasn’t a problem for Ray, who enrolled in January to prepare for the upcoming season. Adjusting to a small town after spending most of his life in the nation’s third biggest city, however, took some getting used to.
“I’m a city boy to the core, and coming to the mountains was just a different experience for me,” Ray said. “But I looked at it as an opportunity. It was an opportunity for me to show people that I could still play this game.”
Ray said he felt like a smarter player upon his return to the field. Spending most of his time observing instead of participating while at Michigan State helped him pick up more of the nuances and subtleties of the game.
That time off the field provided him a new outlet, as well. Volunteering with the MSU football team sparked his desire to help others, and he began sharing his story and other uplifting tidbits as a motivational speaker, getting his bio online, producing YouTube videos and starting with small speaking engagements with help from mentor Eric Thomas. And he’s hoping to expand his horizons into Durango in that regard, as well.
Motivational speaking is a career path Ray said he’d like to pursue after his college days come to a close. But he’s hoping to blaze another career path first – professional athlete. Despite the change in locale, Ray’s dreams of playing in the NFL haven’t changed.
First he has to overcome his latest setback. Then the long odds of making an NFL roster, odds made longer for players at the Division II level.
But seeing as he wasn’t expected to even be playing today, Ray doesn’t have time for the odds. Just results.
“One of my biggest motivations is the next level,” Ray said. “I would like to have a shot to play at the next level, the highest level in my sport, and just me dealing with what I’ve already dealt with, and people already doubting me and me proving them wrong, I feel like I can’t be stopped at this point.”
rowens@durangoherald.com
