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About

Darrin Gray (May 5, 1967) is an American author, professional public speaker, and media personality. He wrote The Jersey Effect, published in 2012. The book has sold over 11,000 copies, with Tony Dungy writing the foreword. A look inside the hearts and minds of athletes who were successful in Super Bowl XLI and the battles they faced. Gray has a unique window into the NFL by virtue of his longstanding relationship with All Pro Dad, the national fatherhood program founded by Tony Dungy.

Early life

Darrin Gray was born in Anderson, Indiana, at St Johns Hospital on May 5, 1967, and grew up in Anderson, Indiana. Grays’s parents married in Anderson, Indiana Gary left Anderson to earn his BA degree in Theology from Hanover College. Gray spent 100 days traveling through Europe after graduating in 1989 and was in Berlin during the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.

Career

Darrin Gray started his career as a General Sales Manager for the Indianapolis Star, a morning newspaper from 1992 – 2004. He left to work with All Pro Dad. From 2006 to 2017, he was the Director of Partnerships. of All-Pro Dad with Tony Dungy and NFL leaders. Gray interacts daily with NFL athletes, coaches, and alumni and has conducted programming with most NFL franchises, the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, and Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Darrin Gray 2022 organized the Fatherhood of Festival at Hall of Fame Village in June 2022. While working for All Pro Dad Gray help orchestra a Sports Science Combine in Indianapolis Indiana.

Gray worked for Indianapolis Star when he met Tony Dungy and moved full-time to All-Pro Dad a few years later. Gray helped scale All Pro Dad from a Tampa-based charity to throughout the United States national level.

Gray has endorsed Uncommon Sports Group which exists to develop Christ-centered leaders in the sports industry.

Gray is the Partner of the Center for Serving Leadership at Sagamore Institute.

Gray has worked as a Principal Consultant for Brandirect since 2004 and as the Chief Marketing Officer for Athletes In Action since 2018. In 2021, the Athletes in Action NFL Sanctioned Super Bowl Breakfast went virtual with Gray as the Media Director managing the event.

Publishing The Jersey Effect

Darrin Gray completed The Jersey Effect in 2012 with his co-author Hunter Smith, and it was published by Westbow Press on June 1, 2012, while working with Tony Dungy at All Pro Dad. Tony Dungy’s forward stated, “This book has the potential to strengthen your faith, redefine your worldview, and help you recognize the negative and positive effects that a jersey can have.”

The Jersey Effect uses real-life examples and biblical principles to address negative cultural trends and illuminate the truth and lies in athletics. Fame and fortune can hijack even the most well-intentioned players, feeding them subtle lies that football is a god.

Intended for players, coaches, and parents that want to learn and, in turn, teach important lessons about how to properly align their love of sports with God’s heart, The Jersey Effect advocates for a full 360 degrees of influence: coach on the player, the player on the coach, a player on parents, parents on the player, and team on community. The Jersey Effect demonstrates how to pursue the ultimate prize—a goal that has little to do with winning a championship ring and everything to do with how we can positively affect those around us through the sports we love.

Vision for Life Radio – where sports and faith collide uses The Jersey Effect book as a resource.

Grad Career Festival scheduled Gray for lectures based on his book.

Darrin Gray was interviewed by Sports Philanthropy Network on the importance of the work Athletes in Action, All Pro Dad in philanthropy, and the work on prison ministry with Tony Dungy and Mark Merrill. Gray also was interviewed by Voice of America – Ray Ellis Sports, Off the Circle, and The Christian Coach Podcast where he talks about his book, The Jersey Effect, and Christian values.

Influences

A Christian, Darrin Gray has spent the last two decades in sports ministry. Gray’s role at Athletes in Action includes serving as an international sports media missionary and stewarding the organization’s global influence through sports. Gray speaks on various topics related to identity, leadership, mentoring, and fatherhood. Pro Experiences will hold the “heart of a Champion during Superbowl week February 2023 with Gray, Chris Broussard, and Troy Vincent as headliners.

Personal life

Darrin Gray married his wife Leslie on September 24, 1994, in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Church of the Crossing, and they have three children. The couple lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.