ROXBURY — Leon Gray, considered by many to be the best left tackle in the history of the New England Patriots, was found dead in his Roxbury apartment Sunday evening. He was 49 years old.
According to the Boston Globe, Gray’s death was from “natural causes”, and that foul play was apparently not involved. He was divorced with one son, Leon Jr., and had been a construction worker in the Boston area in recent years.
Gray, along with Hall of Fame guard John Hannah, anchored the left side of the Patriot offensive line from 1973 to 1978. The two were mainstays of the 1976 and 1978 playoff teams, which featured some of the best ground games in NFL history. With Sam Cunningham, Andy Johnson and Don Calhoun running behind them, the Patriots set a still-standing NFL record with 3,165 team yards rushing.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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