Mel Gray was originally with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL.He was chosen by the New Orleans Saints in the 1984 Supplemental draft and was on the official roster from 1986 to 1988.
Left the Saints in 1989 for Detroit Lions where he became the Lions All Time Leading Kick & Punt Returner. 1427 Punt Return yards, 5478 Kick Return Yards and 5 Kickoff Return touchdowns. Also had kick return scores of 102 & 101 yards in his 12-year career.
Voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-90s teams as a kick returner he made 4 Pro Bowls with the Lions. In his 6 years with Detroit he had over 1400 punt return yards and almost 5500 kick return yards. In addition to the yardage Mel Gray has 5 touchdowns on kick returns and 2 touchdowns on kick returns.
Image Gallery of Mel Gray, Returner, 1986-1997
Mel Gray Football Cards
| Punt Returns | Kick Returns | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | No. | Games | Ret | Yards | TD | Long | Y/R | Ret | Yards | TD | Long | Y/Rt | APYd |
| 1986 | 25 | NOR | 37 | 16 | 31 | 866 | 1♦ | 101♦ | 27.9 | 940 | |||||
| 1987 | 26 | NOR | 37 | 12 | 24 | 352 | 0 | 80 | 14.7♦ | 30 | 636 | 0 | 43 | 21.2 | 1055 |
| 1988 | 27 | NOR | 37 | 14 | 25 | 305 | 1 | 66 | 12.2 | 32 | 670 | 0 | 39 | 20.9 | 975 |
| 1989 | 28 | DET | 23 | 10 | 11 | 76 | 0 | 15 | 6.9 | 24 | 640 | 0 | 57 | 26.7 | 785 |
| 1990*+ | 29 | DET | 23 | 16 | 34 | 361 | 0 | 39 | 10.6 | 41 | 939 | 0 | 65 | 22.9 | 1300 |
| 1991*+ | 30 | DET | 23 | 16 | 25 | 385 | 1 | 78 | 15.4♦ | 36 | 929♦ | 0 | 71 | 25.8♦ | 1367 |
| 1992* | 31 | DET | 23 | 15 | 18 | 175 | 1 | 58 | 9.7 | 42♦ | 1006 | 1 | 89 | 24.0 | 1181 |
| 1993 | 32 | DET | 23 | 11 | 23 | 197 | 0 | 35 | 8.6 | 28 | 688 | 1♦ | 95 | 24.6 | 885 |
| 1994*+ | 33 | DET | 23 | 16 | 21 | 233 | 0 | 24 | 11.1 | 45 | 1276 | 3♦ | 102♦ | 28.4♦ | 1522 |
| 1995 | 34 | HOU | 21 | 15 | 30 | 303 | 0 | 20 | 10.1 | 53 | 1183 | 0 | 54 | 22.3 | 1486 |
| 1996 | 35 | HOU | 21 | 14 | 22 | 205 | 0 | 40 | 9.3 | 50 | 1224 | 0 | 88 | 24.5 | 1429 |
| 1997 | 36 | Oilers/Eagles | 14 | 19 | 161 | 0 | 30 | 8.5 | 9 | 193 | 0 | 33 | 21.4 | 354 | |
| 11 games | TEN | 21 | 11 | 17 | 144 | 0 | 30 | 8.5 | 8 | 185 | 0 | 33 | 23.1 | 329 | |
| 3 games | PHI | 28 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 8.5 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 8.0 | 25 | |
| 6 seasons Lions | 84 | 132 | 1427†| 2 | 78 | 10.8 | 216†| 5478†| 5†| 102 | 25.4 | 7040 | |||
| 3 seasons Oilers | 40 | 69 | 652 | 0 | 40 | 9.4 | 111 | 2592 | 0 | 88 | 23.4 | 3244 | |||
| 3 seasons Saints | 42 | 49 | 657 | 1 | 80 | 13.4 | 93 | 2172 | 1 | 101 | 23.4 | 2970 | |||
| 3 games Eagles | 3 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 11 | 8.5 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 8.0 | 25 | |||
| 12 Year NFL Career | 169 | 252 | 2753 | 3 | 80 | 10.9 | 421 | 10250 | 6 | 102 | 24.3 | 13279 | |||
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
- + – All-Pro Selection
- * – Pro Bowl Selection
- ♦ – Led the League
- †– #1 All-Time Lions Record
