In the pursuit of NFL, Gray preps for pro day

Manitoba Bisons football player Geoff Gray had an amazing 2016 season at Manitoba as he was named the Canada West conference’s most outstanding down lineman, a national nominee for the J.P. Metras Trophy and a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian along with a conference All-Star at the offensive guard position.

He has made a national impact at the U SPORTS level and has now made a strong impression with NFL (National Football League) teams as he continues the pursuit to reach the professional rank.

Gray, 22, will have his pro day football workout on Thursday, March 30 at the University of Manitoba (Investors Group Field/ Subway Soccer South Indoor Soccer Complex). Gray, a Winnipeg native, is the second Bison to hold a pro day workout and is back-to-back years that a pro day has occurred (David Onyemata in 2016).

“I am excited to be hosting a pro day. It is a promising sign for my potential opportunities in the NFL,” stated Geoff Gray. “I am confident in my ability to test well and improve on my numbers from past May at the East-West Bowl.”

The 6’6″, 310 lbs. offensive lineman finished his fourth playing season at Manitoba in the 2016 season and started all eight league games for the Bisons, who averaged 34.5 points and 487.1 total yards per contest, including 333.1 yards through the air, good for third in the country in his senior year. In addition, the Winnipeg native was selected and played in the prestigious East-West Shrine Game in January 2017 and received praise before and after the Shrine Game from numerous NFL scouts and media.

In his four year Bison playing career (2013-16), Gray has been incredibly durable on the offensive line as he has not missed a game so far by playing in all 32 conference regular season games. Gray has started in the last 30 regular season games plus started in six playoff games over his four year career with the Bisons. He showed his versatility by starting 19 regular season games at right guard (plus two more games as non-starter in his first two games as a Bison) along with five games started at right guard in the post-season. He also started in 10 regular games and one playoff game at right tackle with also one start at left tackle in his illustrious time with the Herd.

A member of the Canada West championship team in 2014, Gray participated in last spring’s East-West Bowl and was ranked 11th overall – seventh among U SPORTS players – on the September 2016 list of the CFL Scouting Bureau and then leapfrogged to be ranked number five – an improvement of six spots from the initial prospect list in September 2016 – and third ranked U Sports football player in the December 2016 list.

Bison Football head coach Brian Dobie enthused about the upcoming Pro Day and second consecutive in as many years at U of Manitoba, “We are very much looking forward to supporting Geoff as he continues his process in pursuit of an NFL opportunity. Geoff’s pro day will serve as a vehicle by which he will showcase his strength, power, athleticism and abilities – all of which he earned by his hard work and dedication. I am extremely confident that Geoff is the real deal, and will impress as such.”

 

Source: Manitoba Bisons

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

Leave a Reply