Jay Graybeal

West Seattle Yellowjackets/Seattle Shipbuilders - Quarterback

1941-1942
 

Acquiring the moniker as the "Pendleton Jackrabbit," the 1936 graduate set football, basketball and track records that stood for decades.  As a high school football player, he held the all-time scoring record of 366 points scored rushing, passing, catching and kicking.  He set a long jump record of 23-2 in 1935.  The University of Oregon came calling where he was a freshman in the fall of  '36.

Graybeal was a United Press All-Coast halfback as a sophomore in 1937 for the Oregon Ducks. Weighing just over 150 pounds, he could do almost anything on the gridiron. He ran, passed, caught, punted, returned kicks and booted extra points, as well as returned interceptions on defense. The Oregonian's legendary L.H. Gregory called him the "best pass catcher in the Northwest."

Returning the longest punt for a touchdown at that time, his 90-yard scoring return remained the school's second-longest ever heading into the 21st century. As a sophomore, Jay led the Ducks in rushing while scoring seven TDs.  It wasn't unusual for him to account for all of his team's scoring in games throughout his three-year career. Bulking up to 165 pounds by the end of his collegiate career, he was named a first-team all-Pacific Coast Conference and honorable mention United Press All-American as a senior. He was ninth in Heisman Trophy consideration.  The Washington Redskins drafted Jay in 1940 which he declined and headed for Seattle.  Together with "Bullet Bob" Smith, the Oregon halfbacks were dubbed the "touchdown twins".  Smith would play for the Newport Bears in California before joining the military and leading Fort Ord.

The West Seattle Yellowjackets would acquire the services of Graybeal and a number of other college stars, where "Gravel Knee" set a then record 97-yard kickoff return for touchdown in the 1941 Northwest Football League championship to start an onslaught that buried the Boeing Aero Mechanics with Graybeal scoring four ways; rushing, catching, kicking and returning. 

The Yellowjackets became the Shipbuilders of the War Industries League and again Graybeal starred.  Work obligations forced him to miss the 1942 opening trip to take on Spokane, the only game Seattle lost (7-6) in 1942.  Like many from Jay's era, his football career was cut short by war.

Graybeal joined the Marine Corps in 1943 returning to Pendleton, Oregon following the war to raise his family and start Graybeal Distributing.

Jay Graybeal was inducted into the University of Oregon Football Hall of Fame in 2000.