Ray May

There are many professional athletes that have given back to their communities and those less fortunate. Linebacker Ray May is one of those that did something pretty amazing with a bonus check he got one offseason.

The name Ray May may be foreign to the modern day football fan but in the late 1960's and 1970's he had a solid NFL career. Ray was a city boy most of his young life. He grew up in Los Angeles, went to school at LA City College as well as USC where he played linebacker, and then was drafted into the NFL by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round of the 1967 NFL Draft as the 89th overall pick.

Ray played in Pittsburgh for three seasons, and during that time, the Steelers were not very good. As a matter of fact they were by far the worst team in football during that span. That didn't do much to build the confidence of a young player as May questioned himself if he was any good. As a Steelers in 3 seasons he played in 40 games, had five interceptions and even scored a touchdown on one of them, not bad for a middle kinebacker in the late 1960s NFL. In late May of 1970 Pittsburgh traded May to the Baltimore Colts for a couple of running backs; Preston Pearson and Ocie Austin. When he arrived in Baltimore, who was a very good team at that time, Ray really questioned his ability as he looked around the room of high caliber NFL veterans on the Colts.

It is pretty cool what happened next. Veteran Quarterback, Johnny Unitas pulled Ray aside one day sensing the lack of confidence in his ability to play on the Colts. What the wiley QB said to the young backer really mootivated him. According to a 2013 Baltimore Sun article Ray recanted that Johnny U told him, " 'Y'know, Ray, we could have gotten any player on the Steelers, but we got you. Now prove to us that we took the right guy."

The few words from the savvy leader of the Colts motivated Ray into having three pretty incredible years as the middle of the Baltimore linebacking corp. He had 36 starts as a Colt with four picked off passes. None was larger than when he intercepted a last second pass from Oakland Raider quarterback George Blanda that was intended for Raymond Chester in the 1970 American Football Conference Championship game. That act helped preserve a Colts 27-17 victory and a trip to Super Bowl V.

The Colts were in the first season of having Don McCafferty as their field boss after Don Shula left for Miami. The Colts ended the season at 11-2-1, won the AFC East and went on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the big game 16-13. Ray and each Colt player received a bonus check of $15,000 each. What Ray did with his money, well that is the selfless act that make him an Inspiration Sensation.

According to a story in the book More Than a Game by John Wiebusch, Ray May used a portion of his Supoer Bowl winnings to buy a ranch in a remote part of Kansas. As we stated earlier May had never lived in the rural country before, but fate took him to a ranch near Wakefield, Kansas to look into buyin a horse. Before the star backer had left, he had purchased not just one but six horses and 185 acres!

The reason Ray made the purchase? He bouhgt it for the youths in troubled neighborhoods that had adopted Ray as a a hero, father figure and role model. Ray lived a happy childhood in LA playing at a local park named Denker Park. While at USC he observed some kids that were inactive and worried about what they may do he took them to the park and showed them some good old fashioned good clean fun. He said they looked like they needed some hope, and Ray was there to help oblige the need. It soiunds like it was just as much fun for May as it was for the teens. As the years went by Ray connected with more and more youths and once be bought the farm, well these kids got a whole new experience that living in the city, they may have never seen if it weren't for Ray May. 

Ray May believed in the goodness of humanity and the kindness he showed has far reaching effects that he probably never ever knew about.