Danny McCray used to play free safety and special teams in football. In 2010, he signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent who wasn’t picked in the draft.
The former athlete went to college at Louisiana State University, where he played football. In 2021, he took part in season 41 of Survivor and came in sixth place overall.
In 2010, the Dallas Cowboys signed Danny as a free agent who wasn’t picked in the draft. Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis told them to do this. The team gave him the number 40 uniform that Bill Bates, a star on the special teams, had worn before.
As a rookie, McCray had 28 tackles on special teams, which was the third-most in team history since 1988. It is the most touchdowns scored by a Cowboys player since 1996, when Jim Schwantz had 32.
The Challenge: Meet Kiki McCray, Danny McCray’s wife
Kiki is married to Danny McCray, and a quick look at her Instagram feed shows how much she loves being his wife and the mother of their daughter.
She is @kikimccrayway on Instagram, where she has more than 4,000 people who follow her. She is an entrepreneur, a girl mom, a modern therapist, and a truth-teller, according to her bio. She also wants to make therapy “normal,” which is great.
She is an advocate for mental health, but she also knows what to wear and how to keep up with the times. His wife always looks beautiful, whether she is taking a selfie or getting ready for a night out.
Kiki has a website that helps women and people in their 20s and 30s deal with anxiety.
People who want help with their mental health can make an appointment with Kiki and sign up for individual therapy or coaching. She has even made a program to help other therapists move up in their careers.
How much does Danny McCray make? What is his net worth?
Sportskeeda says that Danny McCray has a net worth of about $1 million.
On March 18, 2014, the former football player signed a $795,000 deal with the Chicago Bears for one year. Danny had ten special teams tackles, which put him in fourth place on the team. His best game was when he had ten defensive tackles against the New York Jets.
In 2015, he signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys for $825,000. This included a signing bonus of $80,000 and a guaranteed $80,000 salary.
In the second game against the Philadelphia Eagles, McCray stopped a punt that was brought back for a touchdown. He had four defensive plays on special teams, but at the end of the season, he was fired.
The athlete hasn’t told the public what he makes right now. But the money he has made from his job makes it look like he is living a very nice life.
In 2020, he will play a role in the 41st season of the American reality show Survivor. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the production for the season has been put off until 2021. When the show kept going, Danny and the other 17 contestants were flown to Fiji to compete in season 41.
Find out about Danny McCray’s parents and siblings
Danny was born on March 10, 1988, so he is 34 years old right now. Roger Wayne Harris and LaQuita McCray-Harris brought him up in Houston, Texas.
His sisters and brother are Dannyell McCray and Kemberly McCray. He loves his family very much and thinks that he is lucky to have been born into such a great family.
Her birthday is July 27, 1965. In an Instagram post, Danny wished his mom a happy birthday, and many of his fans did the same in the comments.
Kiki McCray, who was his girlfriend and is a psychotherapist, is now his wife. In April 2019, Kiki and Danny got married in a small ceremony.
In May 2020, the couple said that they were going to have their first child. In September 2020, they will have a girl they will name Zoe Ann McCray.
The 34-year-old man has a family and likes to spend time with them.
The beginnings
McCray went to Westfield High School and helped the football team finish second at the Class 5A state championship in 2004. As a senior in 2005, he was named to the all-district first team.
He then played at Louisiana State University (LSU), mostly on special teams and as a backup at both safety and linebacker. He played in 52 games and started 13 of them. He had 196 tackles, including three sacks and seven tackles for losses.
Work as a professional
McCray joined the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent after not being picked in the draft in 2010. Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis suggested that the Cowboys sign McCray. Bill Bates, a star on the special teams, used to wear uniform number 40. As a rookie, he had 28 special teams tackles, which was the third-most in team history since 1988 and the most by a Cowboys player since Jim Schwantz had 32 in 1996.
The next year, he again led the team in special teams tackles with 19. He was the first Cowboys player to do this in back-to-back years since Bates in 1989 and 1990. He also became the unit leader, and by his third year, he was a team captain.
After playing in defensive packages as a mix of linebacker and safety for two years, he got his first career start at strong safety against the Chicago Bears in 2012. He replaced Barry Church, whose Achilles tendon injury ended the season. Even though he started ten games and finished second on the team in tackles (87), as the season went on, he had trouble with pass coverage and his special teams play got worse, so he dropped to second in tackles (with 18) and lost his starting position and playing time in the last two games of the season.
After the Cowboys added more safety players in 2013, he took a pay cut to stay on the team and keep from being cut. McCray didn’t play defense as much as he did the year before because the team wanted him to focus on special teams. Rich Bisaccia’s role changed when he became the new special teams coordinator. This made it harder for him to make tackles, so he finished sixth on the team with eight.
The Chicago Bears
McCray signed a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears on March 18, 2014. This brought him back together with special teams assistant Joe DeCamillis. He had ten tackles on special teams, which put him in fourth place on the team. His best game was against the New York Jets, when he had ten tackles on defense.
The Dallas Cowboys (second stint)
The Cowboys re-signed McCray on May 14, 2015.
In the second game, he blocked a punt that was returned for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles. He made four tackles on special teams, but the team didn’t keep him after the season.
McCray was chosen to be on the 41st season of the American reality show Survivor in 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season will not be made until 2021. When the show went back into production, McCray and 17 other contestants were flown to Fiji to take part in season 41.
McCray was put on the Luvu tribe at first. After the merge, he made a deal with Deshawn Radden, who was also from the Luvu tribe, Shan Smith, who was from the Ua tribe, and Liana Wallace, who was from the Yase tribe. At first, the alliance was strong, but on Day 19, McCray and Radden decided to get rid of Smith by voting him out. The next day, McCray started to think about the car accident that killed his father 25 years before. McCray says that it was his time on Survivor in Fiji that helped him finally let go of all the bad feelings he had been having since his father’s death.
On Day 21, the three people left in McCray’s alliance wanted to go after Ricard Foyé, but the rest of the tribe decided to get rid of Wallace. On Day 23, after Foyé won immunity, McCray and Radden were suddenly the targets. The first vote that night was a tie between the two. On the second vote, McCray was voted out by the jury as a whole. He was the sixth person to be voted out.
On Day 26, at the final Tribal Council, McCray voted for Radden to win the game, but he was the only juror to do so. Erika Casupanan won Sole Survivor with the votes of the other seven jurors.
What is the thing you are most proud of that you have done?
Getting my postgraduate degree! Before I made it to the NFL, I wanted to get an MBA, but that plan changed because of how much money I was making and how much work football requires. After I retired, I had to get past my own thoughts that told me I couldn’t do it. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. I had to study late into the night and my tutors kept almost giving up on me. But I never did, I have my MBA!
What is something about you that we couldn’t tell just by looking at you? You’d never guess that I often succeed because I’m afraid of failing the people I care about. I keep in mind that I don’t want to let down people who took a chance on me. This helps me do well in competitive situations. Very much like Adam Sandler’s character in The Waterboy.
Who inspires you and why?
My mom. When my dad died, she was left to care for three kids by herself. She had two jobs and did extra work to make money for us. She wouldn’t do anything she couldn’t for us. She never complained or let us see her cry, which taught me to be strong when bad things happen. That’s what she did for us. I have to give her everything I have.
How will you play the game most like a past Survivor?
Ben “Boom” Driebergen, 1 Big Move King. I think I would be seen as a strong player, so I would become a big target in the long run. Ben was able to work harder than anyone else on his tribe and do what he needed to do to stay alive. This was really impressive. I like that “back against the wall” way of thinking.
Why do you think you can get to the end of Survivor?
I’m going to try to win. I’m always trying to prove something to myself. I really think that I can do anything I set my mind to. I haven’t failed yet, and I have no plans to start.