Upon graduating from Northern Arizona, 2018 NAU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Ray Perryman's career took him on a path around the world.
On the field for one of the most notorious NFL games in the league's history, Perryman landed in a pair of European cities and Canada as he followed up an All-American career for the Lumberjacks.
"A lot of people are like, 'No, I want to be home,' but I looked at it as it was a new beginning," Perryman said. "I always wanted to travel, so it was kind of like the best of both worlds playing football and being able to travel abroad to see what other societies and what other countries are like. It was a great double dip for me."
Perryman served as a key member of Northern Arizona's secondary for three seasons, calling his four years total with the Lumberjacks the best years of his life, recording three top-35 tackle season in Lumberjacks history. In 1999, Perryman finished with 106 tackles and ranks fourth all-time on the single-season list while a 75-tackle season in 2000 included 10 tackles for loss.
Recruited out of South Mountain High School in Phoenix, Perryman joined the Lumberjacks with Steve Axman as his first head coach and Robb Akey as the defensive coordinator who recruited him to Flagstaff. Soon after,
Jerome Souers took over the program after his arrival from Big Sky Conference rival Montana.
Perryman said he was fortunate to be recruited to Northern Arizona by Axman and his staff, but added he used the change early in his career as a motivator, feeling he would need to reprove his value to a new coach and staff, especially one arriving from a competitor.
"That was a rivalry that was instilled in my brain the first hour I got there," Perryman said. "When Jerome came over, it was kind of getting the best of both worlds. I loved the structure that we had at NAU, but you always want to see what the competitor is doing. That's where we were fortunate to get
Jerome Souers. It kind of put us on a platform to be successful and to do things differently in order to beat our competitor."
REACHING HIS POTENTIAL
Perryman never lacked confidence in becoming an All-Big Sky Conference safety, an All-American and eventual fifth-round pick in the 2005 NFL Draft.
"With the background that I had and the parents that I had, you don't set nothing less," Perryman said. "You set these goals up, shoot for the stars and land on the moon... I always instilled that you never know who is watching and you never know what tomorrow might bring, so I always looked at every day as a challenge."
Holding the nickname "The Hitman" for his play over the top of Northern Arizona's defense, Perryman' presence forced teams to always pay attention to where he was on the field. If teams had to take time to prepare for Perryman specifically, he felt his job was already started before the schools even reached the field.
"If you have got to devote a little bit more time to know where I am, I think I did my job even before we hit the game at 4:30 or 7 p.m.," Perryman said. "I always wanted to be a presence, I always wanted to make sure that receivers, quarterbacks and running backs have to know where I am at. I always liked to disguise things and make a rukus of an offense to figure out where I am, where I'm at."
Perryman's playing mentality led him to be drafted by his favorite NFL team, the Oakland Raiders, from which the former Lumberjack drew inspiration for his hard-hitting style he brought onto the field.
A NIGHT IN NEW ENGLAND
Taken 158th overall by the Raiders in the draft, Perryman landed on Oakland's practice squad after the preseason finished in September. Waiting to be moved to the active roster throughout his rookie season, Perryman was promoted by Jon Gruden in January 2002 ahead of the AFC Divisional Round playoff game against the New England Patriots.
While Perryman was among the inactives for the game, he experienced one of the league's most controversial calls in history as the Raiders-Patriots game is now known as the Tuck Rule Game.
Playing on a roster with NFL Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Tim Brown, in addition to future NFL Hall of Fame inductee Charles Woodson, Perryman said the experience allowed him start his career off with perfect mentors.
"That was a great year to jump on and get drafted by the Raiders because it kind of set the mindstate of Super Bowl or bust," Perryman said. "We had a lot of great players, a lot of talent."
Winning the AFC West and easily dispatching of the New York Jets in the AFC Wild Card round, the Raiders entered New England and led 13-3 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Playing through a blizzard, New England drew within a field goal following a touchdown with 7:52 left in the game. Six minutes later, Charles Woodson hit Tom Brady from behind as the quarterback pumped the ball, looking for an open receiver. With the ball coming loose and Oakland's Greg Biekert falling on it, it appeared the Raiders would be in position to reach the AFC title game.
"I always feel when I tell my kids in mentoring and speak to kids is, use that aggression as a positive to motivate and make you prepare more efficiently than you ever did before," Perryman said, who admits he still hates the New England Patriots to this day. "With that tuck rule, we got robbed... I just think at the end of the day, fumble. A lot of people can debate me on that one, but at that particular time with the structure of the rules in the NFL, that should have been classified as a fumble."
Official Walt Coleman, who has never officited a Raiders game since, ruled Brady's arm was in a passing motion and the ball was incomplete. Shortly after, Adam Vinatieri tied the game at 13 with 27 seconds remaining on a 45-yard field goal and the Patriots went on to win 16-13 as Vinatieri hit a 23-yard field goal in overtime.
"I think the next year how we grew from it is we should not have put ourselves in that position to where the referees can basically make a call and determine the ending of the game," Perryman said. "So I will always never want to get into a situation where a call can send us home or send us to the Super Bowl."
FROM EUROPE BACK TO PHOENIX
Perryman returned to the Raiders to start the 2002 season, but ended up on the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad after his release in September by Oakland's new coaching staff after Gruden moved on to Tampa Bay.
After the 2002 season, Perryman returned to the Ravens to start the 2003 season, but an injury left him off the roster. The Jacksonville Jaguars added Perryman off and on from 2003-05 before he moved to the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos in 2007.
During his stints in the NFL, Perryman played for the Amsterdam Admirals (2002) and Frankfurt Galaxy (2005) in NFL Europe which ran from April to June.
"I got two chances to go overseas and play football. I think it was a great opportunity for guys that kind of bounced around a little bit to be able to showcase their talents," Perryman said. "Honestly, I think with those years added years on to my NFL career and actually gave me a chance to display my skills, play in an environment that probably was the closest similarity to an NFL game or camp."
Since his playing career ended, Perryman moved into a mentoring role with Four Directions LLC in Chandler, which offers behavioral health services to youth, at-risk teenagers and transitional adults. Serving as the community-based supervisor, Perryman said the groups goal is to help with all directions in life.
"Now instead of being a leader of a team, I am a leader of an organization," Perryman said. "Just giving these kids other strategies and mentoring to be successful. I don't think i need to sit on my soapbox about being in children's lives and showing them what to do. A lot of these kids that do not have parents or basically got a bad hand at life. That's what I love, that's what I enjoy and that's what keeps me motivated every day."
While he majored in hotel and restaurant management with an emphasis in culinary, Perryman said his volunteer work at children's hospitals and Boys and Girls Clubs while an NFL player sent him onto a different path.
"Life takes you down different avenues and that was something I gravitated to and held on to after football," Perryman said. "That kind of gives me that same competitive mentality, because we get referrals all the time. (It's like) I'm preparing for different teams, I'm preparing for different kids to make them successful."
