Bray honors his mother with a tattoo
Emblazoned on the right arm of new Texans wide receiver
Quan Bray is a tattoo of his mother’s face directly above a message commemorating her. It says: “R.I.P. Tonya.” Before Bray arrived on the Auburn campus for his freshman year of college, his estranged father, Jeffery Jones, murdered his mother in a tragic shooting in LaGrange, Ga.
Jones turned himself in within an hour of her death on July 3, 2011, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of murder.
Tonya Bray was shot during a car chase that ended in a wreck, according to police reports. Jones pulled up next to Bray in a green car and fired several shots at her, causing the car to crash.
The tattoo is the first thing Bray looks at each day.
“It made me a man before I became a man,” Bray said Monday following his first practice with the Texans. “This is football. I love the game. Just come out here and have fun and everything else will fall into place.”
A blue-chip recruit at the time, Bray has done what he could to overcome the loss of his mother and set an example for his younger brother, Jymere.
“Just be a positive role model for my younger brother and show him there’s a way out,” Bray said, “no matter what we go through.”
Bray was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference return specialist who was the first player school history to score a touchdown rushing, receiving and returning a punt in the same season.
A former Indianapolis Colts undrafted free agent, Bray was cut by the Buffalo Bills last week. For his NFL career, Bray has 1,504 return yards and six receptions for 75 yards.
Bray was in Buffalo with Texans general manager Brian
Gaine previously.
“I knew him for a quick minute,” Bray said. “He was there and obviously came here. I’m glad to be a part of it with him.
“I still have something to prove. I’m a playmaker, just let my play speak for itself.”