Why does the NFL, NCAA, and NFHS continue to omit Hugh L. Ray their self-serving histories?
It was Ray’s unique vision for the game, and his brilliant playing rules that saved American football from its dark days of death and destruction. Without any fanfare, this soft-spoken rules genius worked quietly and relentlessly reinventing football from 1929-1952 for the high schools, colleges, and pros by changing its design and destiny.
Due to its once-imperious attitude and prejudiced history, the NCAA has never acknowledged Ray’s great contributions to its game. Since his death in 1956, Ray’s legacy and body of work have been appropriated and marginalized by his closest rules assistants and their organizations. The three major football conferences he did so much to organize, improve, and elevate have closed ranks, acting as if he never existed. A former protege at the NFHS who became its leader took credit for Ray’s playing rules and Rule Books. Ray has been left out of the High School Federation’s history in a disturbing case of historical revisionism.
The NFL is almost as bad. Hugh Ray’s rightful place in NFL history has been omitted and marginalized to the point of oblivion, and credit for his accomplishments has been taken by powerful owners who sponsored his rules. These deliberate revisions were made to protect their copyrights, self-serving history, and some very large egos.
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If you would like to learn more about Football and Hugh Ray read “THE NFL’S MR. EINSTEIN” available at Amazon.com/books for $19.68 orKindlebooks.com for $9.95. Visit www.hughrayfootball.com for more information.
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