Bobby McCray
Encyclopedia
Bobby L. McCray, Jr. is an American football
defensive end
who is currently a free agent
. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars
of the National Football League
(NFL) in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft
. He played college football
at Florida
.
McCray has also played for the New Orleans Saints
and Philadelphia Eagles
.
in 1981. He attended Homestead High School
in Homestead, Florida
, and he played for the Homestead Broncos high school football
team. As a senior, McCray was named to Prep Star's All-America team despite missing half of the season with an injury. He had thirty-two tackles with seven quarterback sacks.
to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier
and coach Ron Zook
's Florida Gators football
teams from 2000
to 2003
. As a true freshman in 1999, he was redshirted by the Gators coaching staff. During the Gators' 2000
, he played in three games. As a redshirt sophomore
in 2001
, he saw action in eight of eleven regular season games with two starts, and registered twelve tackles and seven "big plays" (2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and two forced fumbles).
During his 2002
season, McCray played in all thirteen games, starting in five, and was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference
(SEC) selection by The Sporting News
. He recorded forty-five tackles (twenty solo), and 22.3 "big plays" (2.3 sacks, four tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a block). As a senior in 2003
, he earned second-team All-SEC honors. He played in twelve games, started in eight and finished with fifty tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.
In his four-season college career, McCray appeared in thirty-six games for the Gators, including fifteen starts and thirteen in the final two years. He recorded 107 tackles with 14.5 sacks, 20.5 stops for losses, thirty-one quarterback pressures, two pass deflections, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
selected McCray in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft
, and he played for the Jaguars for four seasons from to . As a rookie, he played in all sixteen of the Jaguars' regular season games, made seven starts and recorded 25 tackles (18 solo) and 3.5 sacks. In 2005 he played in all 16 games for the second consecutive season with one start and collected 23 tackles (20 solo) along with 5.5 sacks. In 2006 he started 12 games and totaled 49 tackles (42 solo), 10 sacks and two forced fumbles. In 2007 McCray saw action in 14 games along the Jacksonville defensive line, making nine starts, and recorded 24 tackles, three sacks, batted down three passes and forced a fumble. He also started both postseason games and notched four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble, McCray had a sack and forced a fumble on Pittsburgh Steelers
' quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger
that won the Jaguars the 2007 AFC Wild Card game.
. The contract included $5 million in guaranteed money. In 2008 he played in 16 games, made eight starts and had six sacks.
In 2009, McCray played in 16 games as a reserve, but he started in all three of the Saints' post-season games leading to the team's win in Super Bowl XLIV
. In the first playoff game, against Arizona
, after Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner
threw an interception, McCray made a hard, but legal, block that briefly put Warner out of the game; McCray's teammate Darren Sharper
described McCray's play as "game-changing". The following week, McCray was fined $20,000 for illegal hits on Minnesota Vikings
Quarterback Brett Favre
in the 2010 NFC Championship game.
McCray was released on June 21, 2010. He was re-signed to a one-year contract by the Saints on July 22, 2010. He was waived on September 3, 2010.
on July 17, 2010. Their son, Christian, was born in late November 2010.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
defensive end
Defensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
who is currently a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft
2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24-25, 2004 at the theater at Madison Square Garden...
. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Florida
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
.
McCray has also played for the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
and Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Early years
McCray was born in Miami, FloridaMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
in 1981. He attended Homestead High School
Homestead High School (Homestead, Florida)
Homestead High School is a secondary school located at 2351 SE 12 Avenue in Homestead, Florida. It is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district. The principal is Ms. Cory R. Rodriguez....
in Homestead, Florida
Homestead, Florida
Homestead is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States nestled between Biscayne National Park to the east and Everglades National Park to the west. Homestead is primarily a Miami suburb and a major agricultural area....
, and he played for the Homestead Broncos high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
team. As a senior, McCray was named to Prep Star's All-America team despite missing half of the season with an injury. He had thirty-two tackles with seven quarterback sacks.
College career
McCray accepted an athletic scholarshipAthletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier
Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American college football coach and player. Spurrier is the current head coach of the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks football team. He is also a former professional player and coach...
and coach Ron Zook
Ron Zook
Ron Zook is a former American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005 to 2011. Zook is a native of Ohio and an alumnus of Miami University, where he...
's Florida Gators football
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
teams from 2000
2000 Florida Gators football team
September 30, 2000The Florida Gators came into Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi ranked third in the nation. The unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs ran for 351 yards, 172 yards and a touchdown for Dicenzo Miller, and 156 yards and a touchdown for Dontae Walker. Bulldogs quarterback...
to 2003
2003 Florida Gators football team
The 2003 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2003 college football season...
. As a true freshman in 1999, he was redshirted by the Gators coaching staff. During the Gators' 2000
2000 Florida Gators football team
September 30, 2000The Florida Gators came into Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi ranked third in the nation. The unranked Mississippi State Bulldogs ran for 351 yards, 172 yards and a touchdown for Dicenzo Miller, and 156 yards and a touchdown for Dontae Walker. Bulldogs quarterback...
, he played in three games. As a redshirt sophomore
Sophomore
Sophomore is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the second year of study at high school or university.The word is also used as a synonym for "second", for the second album or EP released by a musician or group, the second movie of a director, or the second season of a...
in 2001
2001 Florida Gators football team
The 2001 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2001 college football season...
, he saw action in eight of eleven regular season games with two starts, and registered twelve tackles and seven "big plays" (2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and two forced fumbles).
During his 2002
2002 Florida Gators football team
The 2002 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2002 college football season...
season, McCray played in all thirteen games, starting in five, and was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC) selection by The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
. He recorded forty-five tackles (twenty solo), and 22.3 "big plays" (2.3 sacks, four tackles-for-loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a block). As a senior in 2003
2003 Florida Gators football team
The 2003 Florida Gators football team represented the University of Florida in the sport of American football during the 2003 college football season...
, he earned second-team All-SEC honors. He played in twelve games, started in eight and finished with fifty tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.
In his four-season college career, McCray appeared in thirty-six games for the Gators, including fifteen starts and thirteen in the final two years. He recorded 107 tackles with 14.5 sacks, 20.5 stops for losses, thirty-one quarterback pressures, two pass deflections, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville JaguarsJacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
selected McCray in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft
2004 NFL Draft
The 2004 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24-25, 2004 at the theater at Madison Square Garden...
, and he played for the Jaguars for four seasons from to . As a rookie, he played in all sixteen of the Jaguars' regular season games, made seven starts and recorded 25 tackles (18 solo) and 3.5 sacks. In 2005 he played in all 16 games for the second consecutive season with one start and collected 23 tackles (20 solo) along with 5.5 sacks. In 2006 he started 12 games and totaled 49 tackles (42 solo), 10 sacks and two forced fumbles. In 2007 McCray saw action in 14 games along the Jacksonville defensive line, making nine starts, and recorded 24 tackles, three sacks, batted down three passes and forced a fumble. He also started both postseason games and notched four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble, McCray had a sack and forced a fumble on Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
' quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Ben Roethlisberger
Ben Roethlisberger
Benjamin Todd "Ben" Roethlisberger , nicknamed Big Ben, is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Steelers in the first round in the 2004 NFL Draft...
that won the Jaguars the 2007 AFC Wild Card game.
New Orleans Saints
On March 2, 2008, McCray signed a five-year, $20 million contract with the New Orleans SaintsNew Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
. The contract included $5 million in guaranteed money. In 2008 he played in 16 games, made eight starts and had six sacks.
In 2009, McCray played in 16 games as a reserve, but he started in all three of the Saints' post-season games leading to the team's win in Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
. In the first playoff game, against Arizona
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, after Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner
Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner is a retired American football player. He played quarterback for three National Football League teams: the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994 after playing...
threw an interception, McCray made a hard, but legal, block that briefly put Warner out of the game; McCray's teammate Darren Sharper
Darren Sharper
Darren Mallory Sharper is an American football safety who currently is a free agent. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at William & Mary....
described McCray's play as "game-changing". The following week, McCray was fined $20,000 for illegal hits on Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
Quarterback Brett Favre
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...
in the 2010 NFC Championship game.
McCray was released on June 21, 2010. He was re-signed to a one-year contract by the Saints on July 22, 2010. He was waived on September 3, 2010.
Personal Life
McCray married actress Khadijah HaqqKhadijah Haqq
Khadijah Haqq is an American actress who is best known for playing alongside her twin sister Malika Haqq in numerous movies....
on July 17, 2010. Their son, Christian, was born in late November 2010.
See also
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- List of Florida Gators football players
- List of Houston Texans players
- List of New Orleans Saints players
- List of Philadelphia Eagles players