by Lonnel Cole
For two college football players at two different schools on two different levels, nearly 200 miles apart in distance, Bryce Gray of Tennessee State University and Antonio ‘JuJu’ Parker of Northeast Mississippi Community College, the former Cardinal Ritter star defenders have a couple of very distinct common threads: they both wear the distinct number 0 and they play for programs, whose nickname is Tigers. Back at Ritter, they were members of the Lions back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023, with Gray having a combined 159 tackles and 16 sacks during that two-year run. Now as they usher into their second seasons, they are showing their impact with their new Tigers programs.
Gray had a 6-foot-295-pound defensive lineman, had a breakout game in a lopsided loss at Alabama A&M. After garnering 25 tackles all of last year as a rotational player, Gray had nine tackles and a quarterback sack in the single game. But given his prolific production at Cardinal Ritter, it may have been only a matter of time before he would display that next-level potential. As a senior at Ritter, the nimble, athletic big man had an incredible 97 tackles and 16 quarterback sacks, as the Lions advanced to the Missouri Class 5 state quarterfinals before losing to Lafayette. He’s now coming into his own at the legendary HBCU program (historically black colleges and universities).
“Bryce is a player who is very good at pad level,” Tennessee State’s defensive line coach Jeremy Watkins told the Argus a couple of days before Gray’s breakout Alabama A&M game. “He’s the type of player who knows one speed- and that’s 100 percent. He wants to be pushed. He wants to be coached well so he can be the best version of himself.”
Suffice to say, after that Alabama A&M performance, Watkins was even more optimistic about Gray’s future.
“The last game against Alabama A&M showed the potential of what Bryce Gray can do,” Watkins commented. “Bryce dominated the line of scrimmage and consistently affected the QB with his pass rush. As coaches, we see what Bryce does day in and day out at practice, so it was good to see him take that performance to the game when it mattered most. More importantly, Bryce now has proof that he can do it against an opponent. That should breed confidence within.. When you know you’re capable of dominating, you start playing with a different level of confidence, urgency and belief.”
Interestingly enough, Gray plays at a position where the storied Tigers produced two Hall of Famers in the National Football League and a third lineman who was a multiple Pro Bowler with America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys: Richard Dent, Claude Humphrey and Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones. The Tigers had a brief resurgence when former NFL star and Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George led them to a 9-4 mark in 2024. They also had a legendary coach in John Merritt, who had 235 victories. Their other notable alumni included former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Joe Gilliam Jr. and receiver Rodney Parker who played in the 1981 Super Bowl for the Philadelphia Eagles and was later the head coach at Vashon and Sumner.
Meanwhile back in Mississippi, the other former Cardinal Ritter hero wearing 0, Antonio ‘JuJu’ Parker opened his sophomore season with a seven-tackle performance in 27-26 Tigers lo East Central in conference play.
Given his success at Ritter, that was to be expected, too. For even with Gray up front and a star-studded secondary, Parker still managed 64 total tackles as a senior on that aforementioned state quarterfinalist team at Ritter. His defensive at Northeast Miss., Sean Cannon raved about his work ethic and positive disposition in comments to the Argus over the summer.
“JuJu is always the same guy everyday that you see him,” noted Cannon. “He is always in a good mood and lightens up a room when he enters it. On the field, I think the thing that separates him is his competitive nature and work ethic. He is always competing on the field. I have coached several (future) Division 1 defensive backs in my junior college career and he has the same traits that all of them had: his ability to tackle. In my opinion, it’s not as much as being a good cover corner, but when that ball carrier comes his way, he gets them on the ground. JuJu has a love for the game. A lot of kids these days like the idea of what football can do for them. But JuJu attacks each day in practice and the weight room because he has a love for the game. He is a great teammate and is always positive on the field. His future is bright in this game moving forward and we are glad he is playing for the black and gold.”
Although it’s only a two-year school, whereby Parker will be committing to a four-year program after this season, the Mississippi junior college football system doesn’t take a back seat to the more publicized regions in the Midwest like Kansas and Iowa, or Southwest like Texas. In fact, the Mississippi Community College conference is the only juco that has produced not just three star NFL players, but three Super Bowl game heroes all with the same organizations, the New England Patriots: running backs Antowain Smith and LeGarrett Blount, both of whom started their college careers at East Mississippi Community at different times and receiver Antonio Branch from Jones County Community College in Ellisville, Miss.
Additionally, Cannon did coach a future NFL star himself, Darius Slay, when he was coaching at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Miss. After finishing his college career at Mississippi State, Slay went on to the NFL, where he compiled 28 career interceptions and six Pro Bowl berths before recently retiring. So like Gray at Tenn. State, Parker has ‘secondary’ links to greatness as well. But needless to say, he’s on the right track, for success, too.
Not surprisingly, Parker’s mother, Ciara Jones, a perennial state track and field champion at Soldan in the early 2000s and now a Cardinal Ritter assistant track and coach, echoed some of Cannon’s views. But Jones’ coach at Soldan, recently said she also had a great work ethic and would take it upon herself to work out on her own during spring break and off periods like that.
“Her work ethic was so great and she had the drive to excel.” recalled Richard McPherson, Soldan’s former coach. “She was very self-motivated and her dad was very supportive.”
Jones captured what is still universally regarded as the toughest flat race in track and field, the 400 meters, all four years she was in high school, winning the event in the Missouri Class 3 girls from 2001-2004. As a junior at Soldan, she took it to another level by pulling off the rare triple crown by capturing the 100, 200 and 400 meters. (Parker also ran track, helping the boys team to a state runner-up finish in the 4×200 and 4×400 meter relay in 2024.)
“As a former elite athlete, I am often amazed by my son,” said Jones, whose winning 400-meter time of 56.27 seconds as a junior would have won the Class 3 division last spring and in recent years. “His work ethic, his drive, his determination is unmatched. He is a student of the game, a leader and overall great teammate and son.”
Photos below, left to right: Big Bryce Gray (in white jersey) has been busting out with the Tennessee State Tigers football team thus far this season, donning number 0. It is the same number another Cardinal Ritter star Antonio ‘JuJu’ Parker wore as a senior with Cardinal Ritter shown with his mother Ciara Jones after a playoff game and more recently as a member of the Northeast Mississippi Tigers. Mother and son photo by Leon Algee, other photos courtesy of Tennessee State and Northeast Mississippi.
