National Football League

NFL Draft hopeful Arthur Ray Jr.'s pursuit of pros was a matter of life and death

Published Mar. 30, 2015 4:50 p.m. ET

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Alex Marvez

The Twitter account handle @ARayofHope73 has two meanings.

Arthur Ray is not only working to keep his NFL aspirations alive. The offensive lineman also has one of the most inspiring stories of any player eligible for the 2015 draft.

At 17, Ray was diagnosed with bone cancer that led to nine different surgeries. He spent months in bed, followed by more than two years on crutches after another setback.

Ray still wouldn't quit. Ultimately he got on the field at Michigan State, but seeking more snaps, Ray transferred to Fort Lewis College, a small Division II program in southwestern Colorado, nowhere near his Chicago-area home.

Ray knows the odds of getting signed as a college free agent -- let alone being drafted -- aren't in his favor. Now 25, Ray is older than almost every other prospect. At 292 pounds and a shade under 6-foot-2, he is undersized compared to most NFL linemen. Ray's performance in some drills at a recent pro day workout at Northwestern University also didn't compare favorably to those of his peers.

But none of that has deterred Ray, who is training in hopes of fulfilling the dream that kept him motivated throughout his health woes.

"Life's about the challenges you face and how you overcome it," Ray said. "Life is more about your reactions rather than what happened to you. I felt like I had to grow up fast. Now, if anything hits me, I feel like I can get through it.

"Mentally, there are not too many things that can keep me down because I feel like I've faced worse."

"Worse" is being told the lump on Ray's leg that he believed was a "typical bump" was actually bone cancer. Instead of being able to celebrate the scholarship he signed with Michigan State a week earlier as a high school senior, Ray had to start dealing with medical realities that included the possibility of amputation.

"I thought I had the whole world ahead of me getting ready to play in the Big Ten and everything was going to work out," Ray said. "That Monday, I was on chemo.

"It was such a fast transition. It shook me up so much because I had to gather myself fairly quickly to realize what was going on."

Ray received strong family support and drew inspiration from others being treated on a pediatric floor where he was easily the largest patient. Two of them were youngsters named Chris and Steven, both of whom would later pass away from their ailments, Ray said.

Because of his size, Ray remembered having to sit on two "mini-chairs" in the hospital's television room as he watched Michigan State play on Saturdays that fall with Chris and Steven.

"They used to just tell me, 'That's going to be you,' " Ray said. "I didn't have any hair or any eyebrows. The chemo therapy was really weighing on me. But they kept my spirits up."

Ray recovered enough to begin attending Michigan State in January 2008. Soon after he was diagnosed with a bone infection and forced to withdraw from classes.

"I was at home for eight months with a cement spacer in my leg," he said. "I had to take antibiotics. I had an at-home nurse three days a week. It was a crazy, crazy experience."

After another surgery to insert a rod in his leg, Ray returned to Michigan State on crutches. In 2011, he was cleared to resume running and allowed to play by the NCAA. As a show of respect for his efforts, Joel Foreman, one of Michigan State's linemen, ceded his starting spot so Ray could take the opening snap in the season opener against Youngstown State.

"That was a special day for me and my family, but that wasn't the end result for me," Ray said. "That was just the beginning."

After earning his undergraduate degree following two years as a Spartans reserve, Ray concluded that he needed to find another program where he could get playing time. Ray said he was willing to play with "whoever gave me a shot; I would have played in the middle of the street if I needed to."

Ray's road led to Durango, Colo.

The football program at Fort Lewis College is a far cry from a Division I powerhouse a la Michigan State. Ray had to practice in his Spartans cleats because they were better quality.

Budget limitations force the Skylarks to often take lengthy road trips for away games. A 21-hour trek each way for the 2014 season opener against Cal-Davis became even longer when one of the returning buses broke down. This was especially rough for Ray, who had suffered a leg injury that forced him to miss the next three games.

Ray, though, never complained about his surroundings or circumstance in his two seasons with the Skylarks. Jeff Cheek, who coached the Fort Lewis offensive line in 2014, said younger players looked up to Lewis "almost like he was a pro athlete."

"He did a great job for us," Cheek told FOX Sports. "The first game back he was a little rusty, but from then on he had a really, really solid season. He led the group in a lot of ways from a maturity and physical standpoint. By the end of the year, we had a pretty solid line and he was the catalyst to that."

Ray said he received positive feedback from Green Bay and New York Giants scouts at his pro day workout. Ray and his agent Paul Sheehy also are hoping that videos of his pro day and sessions with long-time sports performance trainer Chip Smith catch the eye of other personnel departments.

Cheek admits that Ray does have "some limitations" that could keep him from the NFL but is "definitely rooting for him to make it."

"Whatever he does when he's done playing he's going to be phenomenal at because of his personality and perseverance," Cheek said. "He talked with us at our senior day about what he had gone through, and it struck a chord. He has a great perspective and humility."

An example came when Ray was asked whether he was nervous before his pro day on March 3.  

"I was nervous when I was walking in for chemo, and the doctor is there and you're asking him how surgery went and you don't know if you're going to make it through or you're going to have a leg," Ray said with a laugh.

"Whatever obstacles come up for me in life, I'll be able to get through them. No problem."

Alex Marvez and co-host Zig Fracassi interviewed Ray on SiriusXM NFL Radio

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