Ricky Ray

Ray threw for 324 yards, but the Eskimos lost the 90th Grey Cup to the Alouettes 26-16 at home.

Ray failed to convert on a vital two-point conversion late in the game that could have tied the affair at 18–18.

The failure forced the Eskimos into an onside kick attempt, which failed as Montréal returned it for a touchdown and took a lead that they would not lose.

During the year, Ray received Offensive Player of the Week and Month honours, but was ineligible for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, due to his brief NFL experience.

Ricky Ray (born October 22, 1979) is an American former professional Canadian football quarterback.

Ray spent the majority of his professional career with the Edmonton Eskimos and Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

He also briefly spent time in the af2, as well as with the San Francisco 49ers and New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL).

Ray is the all-time leader in passing yardage, pass completions, and passing touchdowns for both the Edmonton Elks and Toronto Argonauts.

The 91st Grey Cup in Regina, Saskatchewan featured the Eskimos against the Alouettes.

The Eskimos defeated the Alouettes 34–22, for the team's first Grey Cup in a decade.

Ray played exceptionally against Alouettes coach Don Matthews's renowned blitzing defense, completing 22 of 32 passes for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

In 1997, Ray made his debut for Shasta College, a two-year community college in Redding, California.

He became a first-team All-American and state player of the year in 1998.

He also set several school records during his time at Shasta, most notably throwing 199 consecutive pass attempts without allowing an interception.

In 1999, Ray completed 179 of 291 passes for 2,422 yards and 20 touchdowns.

In 2000, he completed 168 of 270 passes (62.2%) for 13 touchdowns with 6 interceptions.

Ray is still in the top ten for many Sacramento State career passing records.

After his college career ended in 2000, Ray, having gone undrafted by the NFL, attended training camp with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers, but did not make the team and only dressed for a single pre-season game.

He earned the nickname "Frito Ray" by teammates, as he was working as a delivery driver for Frito-Lay chips when he was called up for training camp.

Ray made his professional debut with the Fresno Frenzy of the Arena Football League's developmental league af2.

He played seven games for the Frenzy, where he was coached by former CFL quarterback Rick Worman.

He completed 116 passes for 1,296 yards, 25 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

Worman was instrumental in arranging a tryout with the Eskimos.

In 2002, Ray made the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos out of training camp.

The Eskimos were considered one of the strongest teams in the West Division at the time.

However, the Eskimos were deep at quarterback.

Starter Jason Maas was considered one of the best at his position in the league.

Ray started the season as the Eskimos' third-string quarterback.

Late in the fourth quarter of a Week Four game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Maas was knocked out of the game, and would not be available for the Week Five matchup against the rival BC Lions.

Ray made his debut relieving Maas in the Saskatchewan game and his first start against the Lions, throwing for four touchdowns.

Ray threw for 2,991 yards, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions with a quarterback rating of 101.3, highest in the league.

With Maas still recovering from injury, Ray led the Eskimos to the Grey Cup game against Montréal.

He won a Grey Cup championship four times as a starter, in 2003, 2005, 2012, and 2017.

Maas returned for the 2003 season, setting up a quarterback duel between Maas and Ray during training camp.

However, Maas sustained a back injury during the off-season, a condition that would require surgery.

Ray remained the starter even after Maas returned.

Despite splitting time early in the year, Ray ended with a 67.6 completion percentage, 4,640 yards, 35 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and was a candidate for the Most Outstanding Player award.

The Eskimos rebounded from their slow start and made the playoffs, defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Western final as Ray threw for 356 yards.

On December 20, 2014, Ricky was inducted into the Shasta County Sports Hall Of Fame.

Ray moved on to play NCAA college football with Sacramento State University.