Ray Willsey was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, but played his high school football in California. Willsey was a defensive back and quarterback at the University of California - Berkley. in 1951 and 1952.
Willsye was the property of the Vancouver (later BC) Lions, but they were not slated to start play as an expansion team until 19854. The Lions loaned Willsey to Edmonton for the 1953 season where he recorded 7 intercetpions and was a West All-Star (there were no CFL All-Stars until 1962). Willsey was then slated to join the Lions for their first season in 1954, but Edmonton traded Lindyb Berry and Don Lords to the Lions to keep the star defensive back. A broken arm curtailed Willsey in 1954 to just 8 games, but he still recorded 4 interceptions. Willsye played one more season with Edmonton in 1955, adding another 4 interceptions to run his career total to 15. Willsey won the Grey Cup with Edmonton in both 1954 and 1955.
After retiring as a player, Willsey took up coaching. Willsey started as an assistant coach at both Texas and Washington. Willsey did have a brief two game stint as the defensive coordinator of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1961 before become the head coach at his alma mater in California. . Willsey's stint at Berkeley (1964-72) was at the height of the unrest and Willsey deserves much of the credit for keeping the football program alive during that time. In 1973, Willsley went to the NFL and from 1976 ti 1984, he was an assistant coach with the Oakland and Los Angelas Raiders where he won two Super Bowl championships. Willsey would go on to be first an assistant coach (1991) and then head coach in the NFL Europe's London Monarchs in 1992 Willsey also served as an assistaznt coah with the Scottish Claymores and then was the director of player personel for NFL Europe
Ray Willsey passed away on November 4, 2013.
Willsey Arrives Here - November20, 1953
Willsey Traded to Edmonton - April 9, 1954
Eskimos Lose Willsey - October 6, 1954
Willsey Favoured for Edmonton Job - January 20, 1983
| Year | Team | GP | Int | Yds | Avg | TDInt | Long | FR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | EDM | 16 | 7 | 61 | 8.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1954 | EDM | 8 | 4 | 43 | 10.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1955 | EDM | 13 | 4 | 48 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Year | Team | KOR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | PR | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | EDM | 9 | 130 | 14.4 | 0 | 47 | 378 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1954 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | 5 |
| 1955 | EDM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Year | Team | TC | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | EDM | 10 | 76 | 7.6 | 0 | |
| 1954 | EDM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1955 | EDM | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Year | Team | F | FL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | EDM | 0 | 0 |
| 1954 | EDM | 0 | 0 |
| 1955 | EDM | 1 | 0 |
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