JONAS GRAY

IN RECENT months Jonas Gray had received just one
autograph request. Not that he expected any. Before the
Patriots signed the 24-year-old running back to their
active roster in mid-October, his career consisted of a
time-share at Notre Dame and, after going undrafted
in 2012, two failed runs at making an NFL roster, with
the Dolphins and the Ravens.
The lone request came from the fan most familiar with
Gray’s story, with his path from touted college recruit
to fringe professional. It came from his mother, Jerri,
who envied the signature of perhaps her favorite Patriot.
“Can you get me a signed Tom Brady jersey?” she
asked earlier this month.
“I’ll try,” Gray responded.
“Just ask Tom.”
“Mom,” he shot back, exasperated.
Gray relayed that story last week, when he was still an anonymous back with
just 131 NFL rushing yards. But that was before Sunday, before he carried 38
times against the Colts for 199 yards and four TDs—more in one game than the
backfields of the Bills, Chargers, Raiders or Steelers have scored through 11 weeks.
While it was Gray’s best game since high school, the buildup to his breakout
was vintage Patriots. Trade away a top-tier run-blocking guard, Logan Mankins,
right before the season begins. Start 2–2 and let everyone else panic. Find a
guy nobody wanted and use him in ways nobody expects. Establish yourself
as a passing team, then trot out a six- or seven-man line, with blocking tight
ends and a fullback, and morph into a running team for one of the most
important games of the regular season. Seize control of the AFC playoff race
Don’t feel bad if you didn’t
know Jonas Gray from
Jonas Salk before Sunday.
New England’s Johnny-
Football-come-lately is
the 10th player to lead the
Pats in rushing since 2011.
Only the Browns have
had a bigger rotation in
that time (QBs excluded).
Gray’s running mates:
PLAYERS
TIMES
LEADING NE
Stevan Ridley 31
LeGarrette Blount 10
BenJarvus Green-Ellis 8
Shane Vereen 4
Danny Woodhead 4
Jonas Gray 3
Brandon Bolden 2
Julian Edelman 1
Kevin Faulk 1
Aaron Hernandez 1
behind a guy who is sure to sign more autographs this week than he procures.
All around the Patriots, supposed contenders crumbled on Sunday. The
Broncos lost, giving New England a one-game lead in the race for AFC
home-field advantage in the playoffs. The Lions fell, as did the Saints and the
Eagles and the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks. Meanwhile, the
Patriots did not beat the Colts so much as they bludgeoned them, the final
score 42–20. Their 27-point loss to the Chiefs on Monday Night Football in
Week 4 now seems like a lifetime ago, not seven weeks.
Gray wasn’t on the Patriots’ active roster back then. But he was in meetings
and at run-throughs as a member of the practice squad, and he remembers
how offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels stood before his unit a week after
the debacle in Kansas City. “We’re not changing anything,” McDaniels said.
32 / SPORTS ILLUSTRATED / NOVEMBER 24, 2014
That left an impression. Gray dabbled in stand-up
comedy at Notre Dame—he once opened for the actor
Dustin Diamond, best known as Screech from Saved
by the Bell—but when he arrived in New England,
he assumed the Patriots Ethos, a clinical approach
forged by coach Bill Belichick, endorsed by Brady
and other veterans. All business, no improvisation.
“I’ve been on two other teams, but [nothing]
compares to here,” Gray said. “Everybody comes
to work. They know what the schedule is. They
stay late. They put in extra time. It’s about winning
and it’s not about winning. It’s about the process.”