One of the best RBs in high school history ‘still hoping for a call back’ from NFL
By Mac Engel
Former Aledo and Texas Longhorn running back Johnathan Gray lives in Austin and was recently married; he is starting a career in sports performance training.
Steve Nurenberg
Special to the Star-Telegram
The man who was supposed to be the next Cedric Benson, who was the next Ricky Williams, who was the next Earl Campbell is quite content living life as just himself.
Football did not work out to the level both Johnathan Gray, and so many others, expected. It does not mean life, or football, has not been a success.
At Aledo, Gray was once one of the most prolific, dominant and successful running backs in the history of high school football, not just Texas high school football, which, in itself, is a feat worth celebrating. That will never change.
Johnathan Gray celebrates Aledo’s 2011 state championship. Paul Moseley Star-Telegram
He left high school as the nation’s all-time leader in TDs (205) and tied for first for 100-yard rushing games in a season (16). He was second all-time in points (1,232), career 100-yard games (51) and single-season TDs (70) while ranking third in rushing yards (10,908), fourth in career carries (1,205) and fifth in points in a season (420).
Ponder those numbers for a second.
When he signed with Texas in 2012, any “reasonably unreasonable” sports person would suggest Gray would be a facsimile of El Ced. Or Ricky. There will never be a duplicate of Earl.
“You can’t live up to anybody else’s expectations. You have to live your own life,” Gray said. “Going to (Texas) I heard those things. And that would have been great but I am here to live my own life and play out my own football history.
“I never thought I was going to be the next Cedric Benson or Ricky Williams. I just wanted to be Jonathan Gray.”
Instead of all of that, Gray, who has not played a game since 2015, will forever be known as one of the greatest players in the history of Texas high school football. The people who played against, or watched, Gray play at Aledo will never forget him.
Once one of the most sought after running backs in the nation, Gray had a decent college career and was undrafted out of Texas.
He went to the rookie camp for the New York Giants; and then camps for the Calgary Stampeders, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan Roughriders. He never played a game for any of those teams.
“I’m still hoping for a call back,” he said. “You know, of course I thought I would be on an (NFL) team. I wanted that. I still do. I thought I was going to be in the NFL and playing running back and would win a Super Bowl. I want to be on an NFL roster but I know that’s going to be tough.”
Today, Jonathan Gray is 25, lives in Austin and was recently married. His playing career is likely over.
No, it’s not how he wanted his life to work but he understands that not everyone wins the national title. or a Heisman Trophy.
His dad was an All-American running back at Texas Tech in the ‘80s, and he gets it. Gray understands that so many variables have to break just right to win that title; to win a Heisman Trophy; to have a pro career.
Most people who played football will never do what Johnathan Gray did.
His 10,889 rushing yards at Aledo are the second-most in Texas high school history. His name remains littered throughout the top three of every major state running record, including a record 51 games with 100 yards.
Gray simply never could come close to doing at UT what he did at Aledo. UT’s offensive line was a mess. So was his body.
He twice needed surgery to repair shoulder injuries. Those were the miniscule setbacks compared to the two ruptured Achilles injuries he suffered while playing for UT.
Gray owns the state record for career carries at 1,218, but dismisses the notion that all of those carries he accumulated at Aledo had anything to do with his injuries.
“All the carries I took, I was not pounded on. So that wasn’t it,” said Gray, who was twice named Mr. Football USA by ESPNHS, becoming the first player to win the award twice. “I had a good quarterback, a good offensive line. And, most of my runs were touchdowns.
Johnathan Gray’s career at Texas was slowed by a tear to his Achilles tendon. After graduating from Texas and tearing another Achilles tendon, Gray is still hoping to reach his dream of making an NFL roster. Richard Rodriguez Star-Telegram
“To this day I don’t know how I tore both of them. I never had tendon problems. It just happened.”
Gray still finished 12th on UT’s all-time rushing list, and six times he ran over 100 yards in a game.
Oddly, Gray’s arrival began with the slide of UT football. After his sophomore season, Mack Brown was fired and replaced by Charlie Strong. Gray also had to share carries with fellow five-star running back Malcolm Brown.
“I thought we were going to put Texas back on the map and win that national title; during my sophomore year we had guys falling left and right,” he said. “Then there is a coaching change. Then guys question what will happen. It’s tough, but you have to grow up. You have to become an adult faster than other people.”
By virtually any standard, Gray was an exceptional football player. He knows that, and he is at peace with all of it.
“I am proud of my career. In anything, you are going to have ups and downs and the important thing you get out of your career is the journey,” he said. “Losing taught me how to progress through failure. Winning taught me how to be humble and to keep going.”
Gray is going, and while it’s not on a football field he’s still a success. And he will forever remain one of the best high school players in the history of Texas.
This story was originally published August 7, 2018 at 7:00 AM.
