Jimmy Raye and legendary Spartan football coach Duffy Daugherty.
College of Education alumnus Jimmy Raye, MSU’s first starting black quarterback, will be on campus this week in honor of Homecoming festivities and Project 60/50.
Raye will be featured during a special meet-and-greet event from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m., Friday, Sept. 26 at the corner of Farm and Shaw Lanes. Raye was one of the standout black athletes from the segregated South who were welcomed to play on Michigan State’s football team in the 1950s and 60s, and helped the team win a national title in 1966.
Raye’s experiences help celebrate MSU’s legacy of fighting for civil rights and the goals of Project 60/50, a yearlong reflection on the milestones of Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act. Raye received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from MSU and went on to spend 36 years as a trailblazing coach in the National Football League (NFL).
“When MSU offered me the chance to get an education and play football, it was a tremendous opportunity to better myself and be an example to the kids who came behind me in the South,” said Raye, who is originally from Fayetteville, N.C. “I showed that it was indeed possible to pursue an academic and athletic career at a predominantly white school.”
Raye left MSU to play professional football for a few years, but he returned to complete his degree. After graduating, he spent five years as part of Duffy Daugherty’s coaching staff at MSU and studied higher education administration as a master’s student in the College of Education. However, he left the program when he began coaching at other universities and then NFL teams. Raye has mentored many black coaches in the league, and he is now a senior consultant to the director of football operations.
His story–and that of some 40 other black players who helped integrate college football under the bold leadership and support of MSU– is told in a new book, “Raye of Light,” written by Spartan journalism grad Tom Shanahan.
“It is as much a story of education and opportunity as it is winning,” Shanahan writes. He will join Raye during this week’s meet-and-greet at MSU, including a book sale and signing. The event is free and open to the public.