View source for Ray Poole

{{Short description|American football player (1921–2008)}}
{{For|the baseball player|Ray Poole (baseball)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2018}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Ray Poole
| image       = Ray Poole - 1948 Bowman -4.jpg
| caption     = Poole on a 1948 Bowman football card
| number      = 82, 79
| position    = [[Defensive end]] <br> [[End (gridiron football)|End]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1921|4|15|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Gloster, Mississippi]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2008|4|2|1921|4|15}}
| death_place = [[Oxford, Mississippi]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 2
| weight_lb   = 215
| college     = [[North Carolina Tar Heels football|North Carolina]] <br> [[Ole Miss Rebels football|Mississippi]]
| draftyear   = 1944
| draftround  = 13
| draftpick   = 125
| pastteams   =
* [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1947|1952}})
* [[Montreal Alouettes]] (1953-1954)
| highlights  =
* [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1951 Pro Bowl|1950]])
* Third-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1946 College Football All-America Team|1946]])
* First-team [[List of All-SEC football teams|All-SEC]] ([[1946 All-SEC football team|1946]])
| statlabel1  = [[Reception (gridiron football)|Reception]]s
| statvalue1  = 83
| statlabel2  = Receiving yards
| statvalue2  = 1,164
| statlabel3  = Total [[touchdown]]s
| statvalue3  = 9
| statlabel4  = [[Fumble]] recoveries
| statvalue4  = 11
| statlabel5  = [[Interception]]s
| statvalue5  = 3
| pfr         = PoolRa20
}}

'''Ray Smith Poole''' (April 15, 1921 – April 2, 2008) was an American professional [[American football|football]] player who was an [[tight end|offensive]] and [[defensive end|defensive]] [[end (American football)|end]] for the [[New York Giants]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL) from 1947 to 1952.

Born in [[Gloster, Mississippi]], he graduated from Crosby High School in [[Crosby, Mississippi]], then attended the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|University of North Carolina]] before transferring to the [[University of Mississippi]]. He also played baseball and basketball at Ole Miss, where his brothers [[Barney Poole|Barney]] and [[Jim Poole (American football)|Buster]] also became star athletes. Ray Poole was selected by the Giants in the 13th round of the [[1944 NFL draft]] while he was serving three years in the [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] during [[World War II]]. He returned to play at Ole Miss before joining the NFL. He was named to the all-NFL team in [[1950 NFL season|1950]].

He later played for the [[Montreal Alouettes]] of the [[Canadian Football League]] in 1953–54, and then became an assistant coach at Ole Miss under coach [[Johnny Vaught]]. He coached at Ole Miss from 1955 to 1974, then served as head coach at [[Northwest Mississippi Community College]] for the 1979 and 1980 seasons.<ref name="Ole Miss Great Ray Poole Passes Away">{{cite web| url=http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/040208aaa.html| title=Ole Miss Great Ray Poole Passes Awayl| accessdate=April 15, 2018| archive-date=August 14, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814030342/http://www.olemisssports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/040208aaa.html| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Poole died of [[cancer]] at age 86.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080412064918/http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=POOLERAY01 Database Football]}}
* [https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-obit-poole&prov=ap&type=lgns AP obituary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417230604/https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-obit-poole&prov=ap&type=lgns |date=2008-04-17 }}
* {{Find a Grave|25714398}}

{{Northwest Mississippi Rangers football coach navbox}}
{{Giants1944DraftPicks}}
{{1960 Ole Miss Rebels football navbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Ray}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:American football ends]]
[[Category:Montreal Alouettes players]]
[[Category:New York Giants players]]
[[Category:Ole Miss Rebels football coaches]]
[[Category:Ole Miss Rebels football players]]
[[Category:North Carolina Tar Heels football players]]
[[Category:Northwest Mississippi Rangers football coaches]]
[[Category:Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Marines]]
[[Category:People from Gloster, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Mississippi]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Mississippi]]
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