Over nine productive seasons in Green Bay, former free safety Johnnie Gray ingrained himself into being a Packer. In many ways, he remains one, more than four decades removed from his playing career.

The undrafted free agent out of Cal State-Fullerton came into the league mostly an afterthought – he was small, for starters, at 5-11 and 185 pounds. His 40-yard-dash time was an unimpressive 4.7.

But he not only stuck around thanks to his discipline and ability to lay a hit, he rocketed up the depth chart to become a starter in the blink of an eye. In the team’s final preseason game – back when starters actually played in those games – he was named the starting safety.

And so it went from there. Gray made the NFL All-Rookie team after that 1975 season, Over nine seasons, Gray played in 124 games, racked up 22 interceptions, 22 fumbles recovered, a touchdown scored and more than 800 tackles – not to mention countless sets of teeth rattled (too bad the NFL never kept this particular stat.)

Not bad, since he didn’t even start playing football until his senior year at Lompoc High School in California. This was a guy who hardly knew football and even had trouble putting on pads at first. But once the pads went on, it was all business.

"Lompoc's Johnnie Gray, who once earned steak dinners for his aggressiveness on Lompoc's 'F-Troop,' hasn't changed much," a 1975 article in the Lompoc Record stated. "Even though he's risen from third string on the Lompoc varsity to first string on the Green Bay Packer varsity, Gray is still stinging people."

Gray was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1993, but soon after he retired from football after the 1983 season following nine years as a Packer he found new ways to make an impact. Gray went into broadcasting, and became a familiar voice in Packers media, from TV to radio to print. 

In addition, he took up the cause of helping special needs individuals through charity work and promotion. He lives in De Pere, so he’s very near where it all happened.

"Bart Starr was my coach when I got out here. He would say this community comes out and supports us and so he wanted us to get involved," Gray said in 2019. "So I did and we started flag football at the Boys and Girls Club and it was fun."

He went on to be an instructor at De Pere's Syble Hopp School, students who have intellectual or developmental disabilities, in addition to his media commitments.

Gray earned the Bart and Cherry Starr Recognition Award in 2017, given to a person in the Packers community who, per the team, "has exemplified outstanding character and leadership in their field of expertise, while consistently demonstrating a personal conviction and commitment to the Green Bay Packers."  

And, of course, being a career-long Packer is a big part of why his heart still beats for Green Bay and the state of Wisconsin.

“To be around those guys and learn the passion for the game and to be in Green Bay with the history of winning, the tradition of winning,” he said. “Then you get on the field and hear the number 24, playing safety, and 62,000 people screaming and yelling, go, Johnnie, yeah! It was a great experience."