Houston Sports - Ray Childress

Ray Childress

Born: October 20, 1962

Sport: Football (2-time All American, 5-time Pro Bowl, 5-time All Pro, College Football Hall of Fame)

Both professional and collegiate football are continuing to march through their early season schedules, and already there have been a few marquis matchups that have caught the attention of fans across the country.  This week, in recognition of nearby Texas A&M's victory over Notre Dame, who had been ranked in the top 10, I thought it might be good to look at a player who competed for the Aggies as well as for Houston's NFL team.  Because none of the players from College Station have made a major impact yet for the Texans, we have to go back in time to the previous franchise.  In the mid-80s, a defensive lineman named Ray Childress was drafted by the Houston Oilers and became a staple for the team for over a decade.  Even after his career ended, he stayed local to start a business and remained a recognizable face on TV.  Let's take a look at the defensive star that unified two nearby fan bases.

Houston's Astrodome in 1985, the first year Ray Childress played for the Oilers

Raymond Childress, Jr. was born to former football player William Ray Childress and his wife Mary Ann in Memphis, Tennessee, as the youngest of five children.  Although he grew up there along the banks of the Mississippi River, young Ray moved along with his family to the Dallas suburb of Richardson as he got old enough for high school because of his father's career in construction.  In the football crazy culture of Texas, Childress shined as an All-State and All-America defensive lineman before graduating in 1981 and moving south to play for the Texas A&M University Aggies.  He played under head coach Tom Wilson for one season, but a win in that year's Independence Bowl was not enough to salvage Wilson's 21-19 record over four seasons, and heading into the 1982 season Jackie Sherrill took the reins.  Childress played as both a defensive tackle and a defensive end during his college career, amassing 117 tackles and a school-record 15 sacks during his junior season on his way to the most career sacks for a non-linebacker in school history.  As a four-year letterman, two-time All-American (1983, 1984), and team captain, Childress had attracted plenty of attention from NFL scouts.  Heading to draft day in 1985, he was under serious consideration to be taken first overall by the Buffalo Bills but ended up sliding to third.  The Houston Oilers were only too happy to have the local kid join their team.

When Ray Childress arrived in Houston, he was greeted by one of the best offensive linemen in the country, Bruce Matthews.  Lining up as a left defensive end in practice each week across from the future Hall of Fame right tackle, Childress began to improve his skills, making an impact quickly as he got into the Houston starting lineup by the beginning of the season.  The team's improvement was slow as head coach Hugh Campbell was fired before the end of Childress' first season, and Houston limped to last place finishes in their division each of his first two years in the league.  But the personality of the team changed dramatically with the promotion of Jerry Glanville from defensive coordinator.  He was a brash, outspoken head coach that ushered in a physical style of play that saw Childress' stats begin to rise.  In Glanville's second full season the Oilers reached the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, and the following year Childress reached his very first Pro Bowl.  The 1989 season ended with a fizzle for the Oilers, losing their final two regular season games and their playoff game, and Glanville was replaced by University of Houston's head coach, Jack Pardee.  In addition to bringing in a fast-paced offense, the new regime also made a change in defensive scheme that forced Childress to move from defensive end to defensive tackle.  The move was supposed to be for the team's benefit, but Childress blossomed in his new role with four consecutive Pro Bowl appearances.  Playing as an interior lineman rather than an edge rusher, he naturally saw a significant uptick in tackles during running plays, but also had an absolute banner year in 1990 with 13 sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown).  It became the only first team All Pro season for Childress, despite making the second team four times.  It was the first of four of the eight most dominant seasons in franchise history for the Oilers rushing defense, anchored by Childress, as they ended up stretching out a run of seven consecutive playoff seasons.

Ray Childress ultimately played three more seasons, including his final year as a reserve in Dallas after 11 seasons in Houston, before retiring in 1996.  He left the field holding the second highest Oilers mark for career sacks and matched the NFL record for highest number of fumble recoveries in a game.  Although he claimed to prefer the barbecue from back in Memphis, Childress remained in southeast Texas to start the next chapter of his life.  He got a start in business by acting as CEO for the Ray Childress Auto Group that ran a car dealership halfway between Houston and College Station.  Drawing from both his college and pro fan bases, he was remembered by a generation of TV viewers as the pitchman who promised to "clobber big city prices".  At the same time, the Oilers had moved away from Texas to the state of his birth to become the Tennessee Titans, but Childress was given the opportunity to become a minority partner in the new Houston Texans franchise when they were created several years later.  Eventually he sold his ownership share in the team and the dealership closed in 2009 after a nationwide financial crisis, but Childress not only landed on his feet by starting a new drilling company two years later but continued to give back to the community that had cheered for him over the years.  He founded and remains active in the Childress Foundation alongside his wife, Kara, that has impacted over 1,300 students and given over $1.7 million in scholarships and aid.  Although he never wanted to pursue a professional coaching career like several of his teammates, Childress did help coach each of his four children at various levels over the years.  Among his many honors are induction in the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame (1990), Texas High School Football Hall of Fame (1991), Texas Sports Hall of Fame (2007), and the College Football Hall of Fame (2010).

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