Detroit Lions: 30 greatest players in franchise history

Mel Gray is the second player on this list (Glover Quin being the first) who wasn’t drafted by the Lions, but would enjoy the best years of his career while with the organization. Gray got to the Lions as a 28-year-old in 1989 after he spent the first three seasons of his career with the New Orleans Saints.

Soon after his arrival, Gray began to cement himself as one of the foremost kick/punt return specialists in the NFL. During his career in Detroit, Gray appeared in 84 games and the former Purdue Boilermaker really came into his own during his second season with the Lions in 1990.

That year, Gray fielded 34 punts for 361 yards while averaging 10.6 yards per punt return. He also fielded 41 kick returns for 939 yards and an average of 22.9 yards per kick return. Gray finished that season with 1,300 all-purpose yards.

Although he didn’t score any touchdowns in 1990, he still managed to put the league on notice with his abilities. Gray’s contributions in 1990 were strong enough to earn him his first of four nods as a Pro Bowler. He also was selected as a first-team All-Pro player that season.

In 1991, Mel duplicated his Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro efforts from the previous season, as he led the league with 15.4 yards per punt return. He also led the league that year in two more categories with 929 total kick return yards and an average of nearly 26 yards per carry.

Before his Lion career came to an end, Mel Gray etched his name into Detroit’s history books as their all-time return king. Gray possesses the team records for the most career kickoff returns, kickoff return touchdowns, kickoff return yardage, single season kickoff return touchdowns, kickoff return average and most career punt return yardage.

Simply put, he was one of the best return men ever.