Garland Sports Hall of Fame

Bill Gray

Dr. G. W. (Bill) Gray played as the starting left guard for Texas A&M in the Southwest Conference in 1944 and 1945. Army duty during WWII interrupted Bill's football play, following his being a starting guard on the A&M freshman team in 1941. In 1944 when Bill - heralded as "Bullet Bill" - again was playing and a starting guard, the Aggie football team won seven games and lost four contests. In 1945, his second season as a starting guard, the Cadet eleven was victorious in six tilts, while losing four games. As a junior at Garland High School in 1939, Bill was the top vote getter for first team all-district tackle. The University Interscholastic League began competition in three classes (AA, A, and B) in the fall of 1939, and the Owls were playing their first season of Class A football. Garland, with Bill as the leading player, was undefeated during the regular 1939 season and captured the District 14-A championship. The Owls then defeated Arlington for the bi-district title, 26 to 19, before losing the regional championship, 13 to 0, to McGregor, led by its outstanding back, Kit Kittrell. Bill repeated as a first team all-district tackle as a senior in 1940. The Owls again fielded a very strong team, but their single loss, 12 to 7, to the Buckner Orphans Home Hornets, cost Garland a possible second consecutive district title. During the last two seasons of high school football for Bill, the Owls in regular and post-season play won 19 games and lost only two. Bill also participated in track and field and played softball for Garland for two years.