Grays, 19, will be long remembered for can-do attitude, infectious smile
Padriac McGinnis remembers giving Robert Grays a hefty helping of cold, hard truth.
“It’s going to be hard to get you a scholarship,” the Hightower coach told the then-5-5, 150-pound cornerback in a recruiting landscape where size matters.
It didn’t stray far from what Grays had heard from everyone else about his college football prospects.
But in what would be the ultimate “I told you so” moment, Grays simply responded, “Coach, I’m going to play ball.”
He did. All the way to a starting spot in Hightower’s secondary. All the way to Midwestern State. Grays had the kind of purpose and determination that suggested the words “you can’t” weren’t in his vocabulary.
It’s difficult to see that purpose and determination no longer here. It’s why his sudden death is hard to fathom on Hurricane Lane. The 19-year-old died Tuesday after suffering a neck injury from a tackle he made in Midwestern State’s game against Texas A&MKingsville on Saturday.
looked like a routine play, a tackle he has made hundreds of times, Midwestern State athletic director Kyle Williams told the Wichitan on Monday. Just 3:24 was left in the game.
Grays was rushed to a hospital in Wichita Falls after not being able to get up and then transported to Houston, where he died.
It seemed like there wasn’t a corner of social media where #24Strong wasn’t present. The Twitter hashtag honors the Hightower product and his college jersey number. Accomplished athlete
There was a candlelight vigil for him Wednesday at the steps of Hopson Fieldhouse next to Hightower High School.
Neiko Hollins, a former Hightower quarterback who played and grew up with Grays, still couldn’t believe he was standing in the middle of a vigil for his former teammate. When he first heard news of the injury, he thought Grays would pull through.
The way Grays died is a scary thought for any football player, but yet Grays died doing what he loved.
“It can happen at any moment,” Hollins said. “That’s why coach (McGinnis) always tells us don’t take anything for granted. Robert wouldn’t want us to be doing nothing else but playing football.”
Grays was a two-year starter for McGinnis and part of his first class of players upon becoming head coach in 2012.
Grays was twice firstteam All-District 23-6A and shared in three district titles. He was a team captain during Hightower’s 10-0 regular-season campaign in 2015. He was a track star, too, running in the 400- and 800-meter relays.
“Smallest one, but he was the leader of the group,” McGinnis said.
He already was well on his way to becoming a fixture on Midwestern State’s team, playing in all 11 games with one start as a freshman last year.
All anyone wanted to talk about Wednesday was his smile. It was infec tious. He knew how to make people laugh.
“He just had this big Kevin Hart smile,” former Hightower receiver Blair Simon said, smiling at the thought. “Whatever he did, you couldn’t help it. It was contagious.” ‘Something big in life’
His personality foreshadowed a life in which he’d reached higher heights off the field. He wasn’t easy to forget, which is why his death affected players who knew him well and those who had minimal interaction.
McGinnis tries to teach his players not to be complacent and to always have a purpose — lessons that matter many times over outside of Friday nights.
Grays was the archetype of that lesson.
“He was going to be something big in life,” McGinnis said. “He was going to be a politician or a comedian. He was going to touch a lot of people. I say that he has touched a lot of people with his smile and with his attitude.”