Ray Riddick Raymond Ernest Riddick ( October 17 , 1917 – July 1976 ) was an American football player and coach in the United States . He played with the Green Bay Packers as an end from 1940 to 1942 and in 1946 . Early years . Born in Lowell , Massachusetts on October 17 , 1917 , Riddick attended Lowell High School from 1932 to 1935 , and then , before heading to college , the Archmere Academy , at the time an all - boys Roman Catholic preparatory boarding school in Claymont , Delaware . College career . Riddick attended Fordham University from 1936 to 1940 , where he played football under head coach Jim Crowley , and line coach Frank Leahy , and alongside the Seven Blocks of Granite including Vince Lombardi . In Riddick ' s freshman year , Fordham went 5 – 0 – 2 before losing what Lombardi called , " the most devastating loss of [ his ] life , " when the Rams lost , 7 – 6 , to NYU , and their hopes of playing in the Rose Bowl . They finished the season ranked # 15 in the AP Poll . His sophomore year , when he joined the team roster , the Rams ' went undefeated with a 7 – 0 – 1 record , allowing only 16 points all season , and reaching # 3 in the AP Poll . His junior year , the 1938 Rams ' went 6 – 1 – 2 , and lead the nation with just under 300 offensive yards per game , and finished the season # 15 in the AP Poll . His senior year , Riddick played in the first - ever televised football game , as the Rams beat Waynesburg , 34 – 7 . Fordham finished the season with a 6 – 2 record , and ranked # 17 in the final AP Poll . Professional playing career and military service . Riddick enlisted in the United States Navy , and was part of the St . Mary ' s Pre - Flight Air Devils , stationed at St . Mary ' s College in Moraga , California , where he played intramural football along with many other pro and college football recruits . Between active duties , games were played by shifting around a 60 person roster . Games were mostly played between other makeshift military teams , and depleted college teams . In their first season ( 1942 ) , St . Mary ' s Pre - Flight played 10 games , mostly against Pacific Coast Conference teams . In 1945 they played only seven games , just over half against college teams , as fewer and fewer programs remained intact during the war years . After the war , Riddick returned to the Green Bay Packers , but only stayed one season before retiring from the NFL . Coaching career . After leaving the Packers , Riddick returned to Lowell as head coach of the Lowell High football team . Riddick soon built up the Lowell High Red Raider ' s as a nationally recognized power house . By 1949 , Lowell high football was drawing crowds of 16 , 000 fans to watch their first undefeated Class A championship team , capped by a 55 – 0 thrashing of rival Lawrence . According to a " The Harvard Crimson " article titled " No Coach Till Early March " published February 21 , 1950 , there was a buzz around Harvard University that Ray would succeed Arthur Valpey as head coach , but Riddick declined saying " You can ' t be interested in something you don ' t know anything about . " Lowell went undefeated for the next four years , with Julien LaCourse as quarterback , and , Lowell football continued to dominate of the Merrimack Valley Conference through the 1950s and 1960s . Ray stayed as the head coached of Lowell High School until 1976 , where he brought Lowell High to three national football championship playoffs , and became known as one of the America ' s greatest high school football coaches . In his 28 year career , he coached 10 teams to undefeated seasons . He also coached many kids who went on to play great college and professional football , including ; his son Ray Jr . who went on to play for Yale , and Menil Mavraides Guard for Notre Dame and the Philadelphia Eagles . In 1976 , Riddick died at the age of 58 . Honors . In 1977 , Fordham University inducted Riddick into its Hall of Fame for Football . In 1986 Lowell High School opened the Raymond E . Riddick Field House in his honor , the same year he was inducted into the Lowell High School Athletic Hall of Fame . Many of Riddick ' s personal papers , photographs , scrapbooks , and playbook are stored in the Riddick Collection housed by the University of Lowell ' s Special Collections