Founding by Bert Bell and Lud Wray

Lore & Background

Wray attended Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, where he lettered in baseball and football. He played college football at the University of Pennsylvania as the Quakers' center from 1914 to 1916. During World War I, he served in the United States Marine Corps, returning for his senior season in 1919. He also played catcher on the Penn baseball team. Professionally, he played for the Buffalo Niagaras, Buffalo Prospects, and Buffalo All-Americans from 1918 until 1921. In 1920 and 1921, Buffalo was a member of the NFL (then called the American Professional Football Association).

Reader's Guide

Wray served as an assistant football coach at Penn from 1923 to 1929, then succeeded Lou Young as head coach in 1930. He was fired on December 12, 1930, due to friction with players, alumni, and the public. In 1932, he was named head coach of the Boston Braves, an NFL expansion team, going 4–4–2 in their inaugural season. He left after one season and was replaced by Lone Star Dietz.

In 1933, Bert Bell convinced him to become coach of the expansion Philadelphia Eagles. By 1936, the club was suffering significant financial losses and was offered for sale at a public auction; Bell was the only bidder and became sole owner. On April 28, Wray refused a 66% reduction in salary and left the team. Later, he was an assistant at Manhattan College from 1938 until his resignation in November 1940.

In 1941, he served as an assistant to Ank Scanlan at St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, then followed Scanlan to Holy Cross. In 1943, Scanlan's war commitments limited him to coaching only on game day, and Wray led the team the rest of the week. Wray and Scanlan had a falling out, and Wray was replaced by Ox DaGrosa for 1944. He served as an assistant coach under Jim Leonard for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1945.