Gray, Quinn


Cards:  UD MVP 2003, Topps 2008
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Florida A&M Rattlers
Sent: 11/8   Received:  11/21   (13 days)

A strong armed quarterback that resembled Daunte Culpepper, (6’3″, 246) Quinn Gray set benchmarks at Florida A&M with 7368 yards passing and 57 touchdowns. Undrafted, Gray would be signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002, and then be allocated to NFL Europe to play for the Frankfurt Galaxy in 2003. While with the Galaxy, Quinn would have a good season (58/131, 1099 yards, and 11 tds to only 5 picks) playing alongside former Texas Terminator and Texas Longhorn James Brown, leading the Galaxy to a World Bowl victory (XI). He’d return stateside, and not throw a pass in the NFL through the 2004 season.

Gray in 2005 saw some cleanup action, and again in 2006, earning a reputation as a solid backup. With the Jaguars jettisoning Byron Leftwich, Gray slid into the backup position behind incumbent David Garrard in 2007. He’d hop into the starting role near the end of the season as the injury bug would sideline Garrard. Quinn started 4 games, completing 80 of 144 passes for 966 yards and 10 touchdowns, including a head stomping of the Houston Texans. At the end of the season, Gray became a free agent and ironically signed with the Texans. Facing stiff competition, Gray would lose out on the backup job to Matt Schaub against Sage Rosenfels. Quinn later saw time also on the rosters of the Colts and Chiefs before being named the starting quarterback of the New York Sentinels of the UFL in 2009. The team would finish a woeful 0-10 and relocated to Hartford. In the meantime, Quinn has gone into coaching in what he calls, “A dream come true,” with his former Alma Mater, Florida A&M where I got his autograph in under two weeks via the school.

This Upper Deck MVP card is one of the ugliest I’ve seen and lacks any subtly to its design and texturing. The flagrant abuse of the jersey stock, not only on the front but the back as well, renders much of the type distracting and illegible, especially when there is use of thin black 6pt type on a gray backdrop. How did this get past QC? The Topps card, -probably the only one of Quinn in a Texans uniform, is a conservative yawner attempting to capture a look from years past in the use of the type. The framing and insistence of having the Topps logo front and center is ugly and makes me feel like I am looking at a one toothed monster, but I digress. I am none the less happy to add Quinn to the collection with his illustrious NFLE, NFL, and UFL careers behind him. Below are Quinn’s shockingly good limited NFL statistics:

G/Gs  12/4    Att  188     Comp   108      Yds 1328      Pct   57.4     Td  13      Int   5      Rat  91.4
Rush 25    Yds  111   Avg  4.4    Td  2    Lg 27