Most sports fans are aware that high school basketball athletes used to be eligible to jump straight to the NBA.
That changed in 2005, but hockey players can still go from high school to the pros if they are talented enough.
Football players, on the other hand, have not had this option in the modern NFL.
Current league rules stipulate that an athlete must be three years removed from high school to be eligible for the NFL.
In a way, this was the circuitous route Ray Seals took to the league.
The Buccaneers mourn the loss of former Buccaneer Ray Seals, who played with the team from 1989-1993.
Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/x3SUuFOrxX
— Buccaneers Communications (@BuccaneersComms) April 14, 2025
After completing his high school playing career, Seals worked a series of odd jobs, then played semi-pro ball.
He was such a standout that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a look at him.
The Bucs were sufficiently impressed that they signed him in 1988, making Seals one of the rare athletes to play in the NFL without going to college.
Seals remained in the league for a decade and even played in a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is the incredible story of Ray Seals.
A Special Talent at Henninger
Raymond (Ray) Bernard Seals was born on June 17, 1965, in Syracuse, New York.
Destiny seemed to smile on Ray at an early age.
When he and his brother were in elementary school, they received a toy football game featuring the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Ray played the game as the Steelers and immediately became a lifelong fan.
He was such a huge fan that Seals told his teachers that he would one day play for the franchise.
By the time he was a senior at Henninger High School in Syracuse, Seals was lithe, yet strong, standing over six feet and weighing just over 200 pounds.
Ray Seals
Henninger High School (No college) pic.twitter.com/l5POH6iNky— TCPitt90 (@burghmiser) July 11, 2023
Seals played well for the Black Knights and even got the opportunity to play with his brother, Mark.
Joe Riccardi, a social studies teacher at Henninger, played college ball at Alabama and suggested Seals fly down for a visit.
Believing in his ability, Seals and his godmother flew to Alabama and met with Crimson Tide head coach Ray Perkins.
While sitting in the coach’s office with fellow recruit Todd Richardson, Perkins told Richardson that he could play for ‘Bama.
He then pointed at Seals and remarked, “That kid, he can play in the NFL.”
Skipping College
Just when it looked like Seals was headed to a major college football program, his life dramatically changed.
When he returned to Syracuse, Seals’s high school football coach was upset that his player went to ‘Bama without telling him.
Their relationship took a drastic turn for the worse, and Seals graduated from high school without a scholarship.
“I’m not sure of the whole story. I know he was heavily recruited. He was a great athlete. Man, he was rare,” said longtime friend Calvin Bacon.
Shortly after graduating, Seals and his mother moved to Florida, and he began lifting weights at a friend’s gym.
Weeks later, that same friend was arrested on drug charges.
In a panic over the situation, Seals told his mother that he needed to move back to Syracuse.
After returning to New York, he took a series of odd jobs, including cook, bouncer, security guard and doorman.
Thankfully, his football dreams were not dead yet.
Syracuse Express
Two years out of high school, Seals was still working odd jobs to help his family financially.
One of his friends played for the Syracuse Express (now called the Syracuse Smash) of the Empire Football League, and he asked Seals to join the team.
Looking for a competitive outlet, he approached the Express coaches, who eagerly added Seals to the roster.
It didn’t take long for his teammates and opponents to realize just how talented their new recruit was.
Seals was listed as a defensive tackle, but he didn’t move like a heavy, overweight lineman.
“I was the defensive coordinator at the time and we would say, ‘OK, this team we’re playing runs triple option. Well, who’s going to play (defend) the dive? Ray,‘” Bob Campese, Seals’ coach at Henninger and with the Express, said. “‘Who’s going to play the quarterback? Ray. Who’s going to play the sweep? Ray.’ So he was just phenomenal. 6-foot-4, 220 pounds and he ran probably a 4.6 at the time. He was a special guy.”
During the 1986 and 1987 seasons, Seals was an absolute terror and became nearly unstoppable as his weight climbed to 300 pounds.
He consistently crashed through opposing offensive lines and racked up countless tackles and sacks.
At the same time, Seals was still the personable guy Campese remembered from high school.
“(He was) a happy-go-lucky, big, kind-hearted guy who was a tremendous athlete, probably as good or better than any athlete that ever came out of here, really,” said Campese. “We had some good ones. But Ray might have been at the top.”
Tryout with Tampa Bay
While playing with the Express in 1987, Seals watched as the NFL experienced its second players’ strike in six years.
For 24 days in 1987, the Raiders — and the rest of the NFL — dealt with a players strike.
This is the story of the Los Angeles replacements: https://t.co/G0yGvpUuns pic.twitter.com/1ZYKfs4rZk
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 12, 2017
This time around, the league owners decided to use scab players while the regulars were on the picket line.
Seals could have tried out for a team, and most likely made it, but he didn’t want to upset potential NFL employers.
“Some of my friends wanted to be scabs and try out and play, but I was afraid of being blackballed after the strike ended,” Seals said in 2016.
When the strike ended, Seals’s high school teacher, Riccardi, suggested his former pupil call some NFL teams for a tryout.
None of the organizations he contacted gave him the time of day.
Riccardi then suggested Seals reach out to Ray Perkins, who had left Alabama and was now coaching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Perkins didn’t get the chance to coach Seals in college, but he was intrigued enough to invite him to Florida.
https://t.co/wQAforJlm9 https://t.co/EECBJuSPp5
— FOX 13 Tampa Bay (@FOX13News) December 9, 2020
The coach put the pro-hopeful through the paces and then walked away halfway through the drills.
At the end of the session, Perkins walked up to Seals and shook his hand.
“Well at the end of the drills he came back and said I should finish up my semi-pro ball and get ready for Tampa Bay next season-the contract was in the mail!” Seals recalled.
Playing for the Bucs
Once he received his first pro contract, Seals delivered the news to his friends, family and former teachers.
“We were all behind him. We were rooting for him like you couldn’t believe, to have that opportunity to make it,” long-time pal and Express teammate Garry Acchione said. “I never had a doubt in my mind that he was good enough to play in the NFL, I mean, we all knew it.”
Although Seals was a work-in-progress, he competed well in his first training camp.
“Ray was raw. He didn’t have the technique to play in the NFL. I think Ray just had a work drive,” Bacon said. “He just needed to be taught. But he kept showing improvement in training camp. Because he was teachable, I think that helped him.”
When training camp ended, Seals made the team, but he was part of Tampa Bay’s practice squad and didn’t see action in 1988 while also dealing with a back injury.
Ex Buccaneers Defensive End Dies at 59 https://t.co/2OWET1fKpM via @IndyCarTim
— Timm 'IndyCarTim' Hamm (@IndyCarTim) April 5, 2025
In 1989, he spent part of the season on injured reserve but played in two games and had one sack and a tackle.
Then, 13 games into the 1990 season, Perkins was fired after winning only 19 times during his tenure.
Seals continued plugging away and played in eight contests while accumulating six tackles.
Starter at Last
Richard Williamson was the associate head coach of the Bucs under Perkins and finished the ‘90 season as the interim coach.
He was promoted to head coach in 1991 and then watched as Tampa Bay won just three games.
However, Seals was having a great year.
Rest in Peace Ray Seals. 🙏 Amazing story. Never played in college but worked his way into a starting role in the NFL. Played five seasons for the Bucs and led them in sacks in 1993 with 8.5. Also started for the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX and had a sack. pic.twitter.com/k5AhbAsJW8
— Liam Mitchell (Bucs Vault) (@BucsArchive1976) April 8, 2025
Playing at defensive end on the opposite side of Keith McCants, he started nine times and had 32 tackles, one sack and two fumble recoveries.
Before the 1992 NFL season, Williamson was fired, and former Cincinnati Bengals coach Sam Wyche was hired.
Tampa Bay improved to five wins while Seals started in eight games and grabbed 37 tackles and five sacks.
During a Week 2 game against Tampa Bay, Seals was part of a play that still lives in NFL history.
At one point in the contest, a little-known Packers quarterback named Brett Favre entered for the second half.
On his first pass in a Packers uniform, Favre tossed the pigskin right into the arms of Seals.
The ball ricocheted straight into the air and back into the arms of the QB.
Brett Favre's first completed pass as a Green Bay Packer was to himself.
— UberFacts (@UberFacts) June 15, 2014
Favre was tackled immediately for -7 yards, and the play went down in history as Favre’s first completion and first catch as a pro.
In 1993, the Bucs won five games again and Seals started just once, but played in 11 contests.
His tally for the year was a career-best 8.5 sacks, 35 tackles and an interception.
Seals’ Boyhood Dream Comes True
Ever since he was a kid, Seals had been a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
He had even told his elementary school teachers that he would one day play for the organization.
Of course, most young kids say such things without ever seeing their dreams fulfilled.
In 1993, Seals was a free agent, and he had zero desire to return to Tampa Bay.
During the ‘92 season, a team doctor pulled Seals out of practice due to a concussion, but didn’t let Wyche know.
An assistant coach saw Seals on the sideline and thought he was loafing.
When Wyche found out that his veteran wasn’t gutting it out, he called Seals out in front of the team and berated him.
From then on, Seals knew he wanted to leave.
During the following offseason, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, reached out to the Steelers to gauge their interest.
Did You Know❓
Ray Seals, who starred for Henninger HS (Syracuse) is one of the few that played in the NFL without playing in College. Seals went from playing for the minor-league Syracuse Express to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1989, 4 years removed from High School. #NYmade pic.twitter.com/laDtJKDFq7
— NY MADE FOOTBALL (@NYMadeFootball) October 29, 2024
To Seals’ great surprise, Pittsburgh signed him for the 1994 season.
He played that year with a defense that included Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Carnell Lake and Rod Woodson.
While the Steelers went 12-4 and lost in the AFC Championship to the San Diego Chargers, Seals started 11 games and collected seven sacks, 36 tackles and recovered two fumbles.
Pittsburgh Reaches the Pinnacle
Imagine being employed as a doorman and a few years later playing in a Super Bowl.
In 1995, Seals started all 16 games for the first time in his career.
R.I.P. former Steelers DE (1994-1996) Ray Seals. pic.twitter.com/CThbSWY2Hs
— Billy Hartford (@CamHeywardFan) April 4, 2025
As part of the Steelers’ ninth-ranked defense, he tallied 47 tackles (a career high), 8.5 sacks (which tied a career high), two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and an interception.
By then, Seals’ story was becoming common knowledge, one of the few NFL athletes who never played a down in college.
“The honest-to-God’s truth is that most of the guys I played with didn’t know my story,” said Seals. “They thought I was just another college graduate in the league. But then they’d hear about it and be, like, ‘Wow. Really?’ They’d think about where they came from, and then they’d think about where I came from. And it was just unbelievable to them.”
Pittsburgh went 11-5, beat Buffalo and Indianapolis in the playoffs, and faced the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX.
Rest Easy Ray Seals 😢 #RIP #Buccaneers #Steelers #NFL https://t.co/67RVdmx3TN
— @Steelers Nasty (@SteelersNasty) April 4, 2025
Right then, it looked like Seals’ life-long journey had come full circle.
From playing a football game as a boy with Pittsburgh and Dallas, to working menial jobs, playing semi-pro ball and then playing for a world championship at the highest level.
During the contest, he sacked Cowboys’ quarterback Troy Aikman.
Ultimately, the Steelers couldn’t keep pace and lost, 27-17.
Seals Retires
Just as Seals was preparing to play his third year in the Steel City, a torn rotator cuff kept him out for the entire 1996 season.
RIP to Former #Steelers DL Ray Seals
"I wonder now. Is there a place in history for guys like me. There are only a few of us that ever played in the NFL without ever attending college. Me, Otis Sistrunk … a couple others. How does the NFL remember guys like us?"… pic.twitter.com/cx1lZ7Pwlk
— Steelers Takeaways 🌗 (@PittsburghSport) April 4, 2025
He was waived after the year ended and signed with the Carolina Panthers.
During the 1997 NFL season, Seals played alongside veterans Mike Fox and Greg Kragen, starting seven of the 14 games he appeared in.
After a year in which he had 21 tackles, one sack and one forced fumble, Seals was on the practice squad of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1998 but never played.
Seals retired shortly thereafter.
In his eight-year career, Seals had 215 tackles, 32 sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.
He also played in Super Bowl XXX.
Life After Football and Death
In 1995, while Seals was enjoying the best year of his pro career, his cousin, Jonny Gammage, was killed by Pittsburgh police officers.
At the time of his death, Gammage was driving Seals’s vehicle when he was pulled over for what police called “erratic driving.”
In the process of subduing him, Gammage was unable to breathe due to officers pressing down on his chest, and he died of asphyxiation.
The loss of his cousin greatly troubled Seals, and he responded by throwing himself into charity work.
For the next few decades, the former defensive end was involved with Toys for Tots, various community projects, a local Pop Warner football team and was an anti-crime advocate.
Even the NFL was impressed with his philanthropic efforts and gave Seals the “E for Effort” charity award.
Seals was inducted into the Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, and in 2016, he was inducted into the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame.
Ray Seals graduated from Henninger in 1984 and never played a down of college football. But he suited up from 1989-97 as a defensive lineman with the Buccaneers, Steelers and Panthers. https://t.co/wfMYAIpVnL pic.twitter.com/TaDrlIYcpv
— syracuse.com (@syracusedotcom) April 5, 2025
Unfortunately, Seals passed away suddenly on April 4, 2025, at the age of 59.
“People loved him and they just gathered around him,” Acchione said. “Ray had a heart of gold. I mean, he is really just a soft-spoken guy. You wouldn’t know that it was Ray Seals. He’s a normal Joe Blow walking around. He doesn’t like the limelight, but he’s there if you need him.”
References
https://www.pro-football-reference.com
https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com
https://www.greatersyracusesportshalloffame.com
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