By Richard Zowie
The Highlander
Kenneth Don Gray, a lifelong Hill Country resident whose career included NFL football, teaching and then coaching at both the high school and professional levels, died Nov. 25 in Round Rock.
The former St. Louis Cardinal football player was 81.
Gray was born March 10, 1936 to Lewis and Estelle Gray in San Saba. In 1954, he graduated from Llano High School in 1954 and married Shirley Jean Barber in Cherokee on May 24, 1952.
At Howard Payne University, where he went from 1954-1957, Gray played football and earned All Lone Star Conference accolades and was named to the Little All-American Team.
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history, Gray went on to be a sixth round draft pick in the NFL by the Green Bay Packers in 1958.
