It has been seven years since Shane Ray last appeared in an NFL regular-season game, but the edge rusher said he’s “still chugging.”

April 30 will mark 10 years from when Ray was selected by the Broncos with the No. 23 pick in the first round of the 2015 draft, and the future initially looked bright. As a rookie, he had a key reserve role as Denver won Super Bowl 50. In his second season, playing in all 16 games and starting eight in place of an injured DeMarcus Ware, he had eight sacks.

When 2017 came around, Ware had retired, and Ray was in line to replace him as the Broncos’ pass rusher opposite star Von Miller. But early in training camp, Ray tore a ligament in his left wrist, derailing his career.

With the wrist not healing properly, the Broncos didn’t pick up Ray’s fifth-year contract option for 2019 by the May 2018 deadline. And after struggling in 2018, he hasn’t been on a regular-season NFL roster since.

“It’s not always the fairy tale that happens for everybody,’’ Ray said in an interview with The Denver Gazette from his home in Tampa, Fla. “Things happen. … Right before I got hurt, I was at the area where I was kind of reaching a new level and kind of stepping into my own as a player. I just think the injury derailed that and put me in a bad situation.”

Ray said for several years after leaving Denver he was “bitter” about how his tenure ended there. But that eventually would change, and Ray said he now seeks to dwell on the positives in his career.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Ray resurfaced in the Canadian Football League with Toronto from 2021-22, rediscovering his love for football. While he was set back by a finger injury in his first season, he had six sacks in 13 games for the Argonauts in 2022 as they won the Grey Cup.

Ray tried to get back in the NFL after that, but didn’t make the Buffalo Bills out of training camp in 2023 or the Tennessee Titans last year. But Ray, who turns 32 on May 18, hasn’t given up.

Ray signed with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders in January and will report to training camp on May 9.

“I’ve been able to learn, I’ve able to grow,” Ray said of coming back from how his time ended with the Broncos. “And I’m still chugging. I think a lot of people would have hung it up by now and thrown in the towel.”

Ray had faced adversity before his injury. After starring at Missouri, including having 14.5 sacks in 2014, he was projected as a top 10 NFL draft pick. However, on April 27, 2015, three days before the draft, his vehicle was pulled over for speeding in Missouri at 5:46 a.m. and he was issued a misdemeanor citation for possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana in addition to a traffic violation.

“It was definitely a bad decision,’’ Ray said. “It wasn’t a good decision for me moving like that right before I’m about to get drafted. … I would definitely like to take some stuff back and obviously do them a little differently. But that time I was living fast, and I made a decision that cost me a lot of money. … Easily $15 million.”

Ray had expected to be selected either No. 3 by Jacksonville or No. 8 by Atlanta. But after his legal issue, the Jaguars ended up taking defensive end Dante Fowler and the Falcons went with defensive end Vic Beasley.

Ray continued to slide until the Broncos traded up to snag him. Denver sent the No. 28 pick in the 2015 draft, offensive lineman Manny Ramirez and two fifth-round picks to Detroit for the right to move up to No. 23

“I owe the Broncos,’’ Ray said. “I’m indebted to them so much (for the draft selection). … I ended up a Denver Bronco and being able to be part of one of the greatest defenses that ever played this game and win a Super Bowl and learn from two of my favorite players (in Miller and Ware).”

As a rookie, Ray got into 14 games without a start and had four sacks. In the Broncos’ 24-10 win over Carolina in Super Bowl 50, he had a forced fumble, a quarterback hit and two tackles while playing 20 defensive snaps.

“It was a surreal experience,’’ Ray said of the win. “It’s one of those experiences where, ‘Is this really happening?’ … Once it was over and we were champions, it was like, ‘Wow. OK. This just happened. What’s next?’’’

Next was Ray really starting to emerge in 2016. With Ware out due to a broken forearm, Ray made his first NFL start in Week 3 and had three sacks in a 29-17 win at Cincinnati.

“I just did that on Andrew Whitworth,’’ Ray said of going against the Bengals’ All-Pro left tackle. “I give him his respect (but I thought) I’m where I need to be as a player.”

Ray said he was “firing on all cylinders and was putting it all together” that season. Bernie Fowler, a Broncos wide receiver from 2014-17, agrees.

“He was really good,’’ he said. “He was getting off to an incredible start in his career. To have three sacks in (his first start) was crazy.”

When training camp arrived the next season, Ray was preparing to show his stuff off as a regular starter.

“Everything seemed like it was right,’’ Ray said. “My offseason went great. … Then I hurt my wrist, and it was kind of like everything changed in that moment (with) all the positive stuff that I thought was about to happen and getting another contract offer. I just knew going into that third season I’m going to have a 10-plus sack season. … I was ready, and that just wasn’t the plan for the universe.”

Ray had been hurt early in camp when his hand got caught on an offensive lineman and he “heard a pop.” At first the injury wasn’t thought to be serious, and Ray continued to practice that day and the next day while wearing extra tape on his wrist.

But the wrist, despite X-rays having been negative, continued to hurt, so Ray was sent for an MRI. It was determined he had a torn ligament and would need surgery. The procedure turned out to be much more complicated than Ray expected.

“The doctor said when he cut my wrist open, there was nothing holding my wrist into the socket,’’ Ray said. “Literally, the bone just popped out of my arm. … It went from ligament repair to a whole structural, screw the bones back together, put the wrist back together, and repair the ligament.

“I initially went in for a couple-hour surgery and my surgery ended up being multiple, multiple hours, and this is unknown to me until I woke up from the surgery that I had this much damage to my wrist.”

Ray was placed on injured reserve for the first six games in 2017 before he finally returned to the lineup. But after playing in eight games and having only one sack, Ray was put back on injured reserve for the final two games and soon had another surgery.

“I’m not healing,’’ Ray said of his ongoing ordeal. “My wrist is not getting better, and I couldn’t figure out why at the time. … There were times when I thought I would never be able to do a push-up again. It was nerve-wracking for me to walk normally in crowded areas because I was afraid that I would bump into somebody with my wrist.

“It was 10 out of 10 pain for a year plus and it was not going away. … You can’t do anything in football and be successful. … I can’t even pick up a five-pound weight yet I’m trying to keep an offensive lineman from holding me.”

In 2018, Ray went to a specialist to see why his wrist wasn’t healing and why he remained in great pain.

“The doctors said I was suffering from necrosis in my bones, which means I had no blood flow to the bones in my wrist that I had surgery on, and it was causing the bones to die,’’ he said.

Ray said surgery was initially recommended in which some bone would be taken from his upper arm and attached to his wrist. However, Ray, who said he “broke down” after hearing that, didn’t want to have another surgery. It was eventually decided his wrist would be shot up during the 2018 season with cortisone to dull the pain in what he called a “short-term fix.”

In what turned out to be his final Denver season, Ray was still hampered by the injury. He didn’t start any of the 11 games he played and had just one sack.

“(The injury) definitely derailed his career,’’ said Chris Harris Jr., a Broncos cornerback from 2011-19. “When you have an injury like that, you can’t use your moves the same way. You could tell he was frustrated that he couldn’t do the things he wanted.”

By 2018, the Broncos had replaced Ray in the lineup with Bradley Chubb, who was taken with the No. 5 pick in the draft and had 12 sacks as a rookie. Ray said he had a good relationship with Chubb, and he understood it was a business decision to have brought to the Broncos.

“When you get injured and you can’t produce, they’ve got to find somebody who can do the job and unfortunately for me, as much as I would have loved to continue my career in Denver, (it didn’t happen),’’ he said.

After Ray became a free agent in 2019, he was signed by the Baltimore Ravens but failed to make the team while playing with a wrist that still bothered him. He doesn’t deny there were some tough times around then.

“Initially, leaving Denver I was bitter just in the sense of I felt like you guys drafted me here and I just thought that how I would be taken care of would be a little bit different (with his injury),’’ Ray said. “It’s like sometimes you get in a situation of where you might start to look at all the negatives. … Leaving Denver, it took me some time to definitely not feel that bitterness.”

As the years went by, Ray said he “just kind of grew out” of his bitterness. He said he began to “look at my experiences in Denver with all the positives.” He said as he has “gotten older” he realizes he has “a lot of love for Denver” with all the people he met there and with being able to win a Super Bowl. He still comes to the city regularly to visit his 6-year-old daughter Savayah.

As time passed, Ray continued to work on his wrist, and it became better although Ray said it’s “never going to be what it was.” He said he eventually will need that surgery he previously declined but that he’s generally been “pretty pain free.”

In 2021, he became rejuvenated when he joined the Argonauts.

“Leaving Denver and being out of the league for two years, it was tough because it was the first time as far as identity-wise, I wasn’t a football player,’’ he said. “Going to the CFL brought life back to me because I was down. … When you don’t have the success, you think you should have, it kind of makes you question your talent and your skill. … Being back in the football world, I just regained my confidence.”

After getting into just five games in 2021 due to the broken finger, Ray made great strides in 2022 after Corey Mace came to Toronto as defensive coordinator.

“The first thing you could see was his football intelligence,’’ said Mace, now Ray’s head coach with the Roughriders. “He’s a good athlete and good technician. And Shane wasn’t the kind of vet who would hide any of his secrets. He was always trying to teach the young guys and share the knowledge, which I thought was tremendous.”

Ray missed the playoffs, including Toronto’s 24-23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to claim the Grey Cup, after suffering a torn bicep. Mace said Ray was “crushed” by not being able to play then but did what he could off the field.

“He and another player bought out a theater for the players to go watch a movie,’’ Mace said of the week leading up to the Grey Cup. “It was on their own dime. That was pretty cool.”

Although disappointed by not playing in the Grey Cup, Ray does proudly say that “I’m a champion in two” leagues.

Ray, though, wanted to get back in the NFL. So, he didn’t return to the CFL in 2023, instead signing with the Bills.

Ray suffered a pulled hamstring before the second preseason game and soon was released with an injury settlement. He got another chance in 2024 with the Titans but failed to make the roster.

“I think I was more at peace because those were two situations where I knew it was literally nothing else, I could have done (in an attempt to make the team),’’ Ray said.

Ray believed he would have cracked the Bills’ roster had he not gotten hurt. He believed not making the Titans had a lot to do with his age and them wanting to go with younger players.

After leaving the Argonauts, Ray had remained in touch with Mace, who took over the Roughriders in 2024, and a deal was reached for a return to Canada. Mace said he’s “excited to work with him again” and expects Ray will “really push our team to the ultimate goal,” that being the Grey Cup.

“With all this training I’ve done, I just want to go play ball,’’ Ray said. “The CFL is just offering that opportunity for me right now. I’m about to turn 32. … So, if my time is running out, I’m just trying to get on the field and have fun.”

Ray has been working out regularly this decade, including the past three years under the tutelage of noted fitness trainer Taylor Scott at Tampa’s Trench Academy.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been,’’ Ray said. “I’m 250 pounds, 13% body fat, running as fast as I’ve run, jumping as high as I’ve ever jumped. … I’ve literally been training year-round for four years because you never want to get a call and you’re not in shape.”

Scott said many of his Ray’s numbers are better than when he entered the NFL 10 years ago.

“Where he’s at now right now in his early 30s is probably better than it was in his early 20s,’’ Scott said. “He’s well over 650 pounds in the squat and well over 400 pounds in the bench press. … He’s rocking a six-pack.”

Ray wants to leave everything on the field this season because, even though he has hopes of getting another NFL shot, he realizes it could be his swan song in football.

“It’s just really depending on how I feel,’’ Ray said. “But I’ve taken this offseason preparation as if it would be my last year playing professional ball. … We’ll see how it’s looking. I might hang it up after this one.”

In the meantime, Bernie Fowler, who continues to keep in touch with Ray, is glad to see him continuing to suit up.

“I think if you love something as much as he loves football, why not continue to do it,’’ he said.

The former receiver was asked how good Ray might have become had he not suffered the wrist injury.

“The projectory he was on, I definitely feel he would have been a Pro Bowl-caliber player,’’ he said. “He possibly could have been in Denver eight to 10 years.”

Harris said, “if he didn’t get injured” that Ray “definitely would still be in the NFL.”

Instead, Ray hasn’t played in an NFL regular-season game since he got in for 31 defensive snaps in a reserve role and had one tackle in Denver’s 20-14 loss at San Francisco on Dec. 9, 2018. But he’s now at peace with that.

“In the NFL, very rarely does a guy get to ride out into the sunset how he wants to ride out,’’ Ray said. “So, it’s just understanding that more. … I’ve been able to do incredible things in my life that most people would never get to sniff. And you’ve got to be grateful. Obviously, I’ve had hardships, but that is life. …I’ve been on this road and as bumpy as it’s been and as smooth as it’s been, I’ve been able to weather the storm and continue to go.”

It has been seven years since Shane Ray last appeared in an NFL regular-season game, but the edge rusher said he’s “still chugging.”

April 30 will mark 10 years from when Ray was selected by the Broncos with the No. 23 pick in the first round of the 2015 draft, and the future initially looked bright. As a rookie, he had a key reserve role as Denver won Super Bowl 50. In his second season, playing in all 16 games and starting eight in place of an injured DeMarcus Ware, he had eight sacks.

When 2017 came around, Ware had retired, and Ray was in line to replace him as the Broncos’ pass rusher opposite star Von Miller. But early in training camp, Ray tore a ligament in his left wrist, derailing his career.

With the wrist not healing properly, the Broncos didn’t pick up Ray’s fifth-year contract option for 2019 by the May 2018 deadline. And after struggling in 2018, he hasn’t been on a regular-season NFL roster since.

“It’s not always the fairy tale that happens for everybody,’’ Ray said in an interview with The Denver Gazette from his home in Tampa, Fla. “Things happen. … Right before I got hurt, I was at the area where I was kind of reaching a new level and kind of stepping into my own as a player. I just think the injury derailed that and put me in a bad situation.”

Ray said for several years after leaving Denver he was “bitter” about how his tenure ended there. But that eventually would change, and Ray said he now seeks to dwell on the positives in his career.

The 6-foot-3, 250-pound Ray resurfaced in the Canadian Football League with Toronto from 2021-22, rediscovering his love for football. While he was set back by a finger injury in his first season, he had six sacks in 13 games for the Argonauts in 2022 as they won the Grey Cup.

Ray tried to get back in the NFL after that, but didn’t make the Buffalo Bills out of training camp in 2023 or the Tennessee Titans last year. But Ray, who turns 32 on May 18, hasn’t given up.

Ray signed with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders in January and will report to training camp on May 9.

“I’ve been able to learn, I’ve able to grow,” Ray said of coming back from how his time ended with the Broncos. “And I’m still chugging. I think a lot of people would have hung it up by now and thrown in the towel.”

Ray had faced adversity before his injury. After starring at Missouri, including having 14.5 sacks in 2014, he was projected as a top 10 NFL draft pick. However, on April 27, 2015, three days before the draft, his vehicle was pulled over for speeding in Missouri at 5:46 a.m. and he was issued a misdemeanor citation for possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana in addition to a traffic violation.

“It was definitely a bad decision,’’ Ray said. “It wasn’t a good decision for me moving like that right before I’m about to get drafted. … I would definitely like to take some stuff back and obviously do them a little differently. But that time I was living fast, and I made a decision that cost me a lot of money. … Easily $15 million.”

Ray had expected to be selected either No. 3 by Jacksonville or No. 8 by Atlanta. But after his legal issue, the Jaguars ended up taking defensive end Dante Fowler and the Falcons went with defensive end Vic Beasley.

Ray continued to slide until the Broncos traded up to snag him. Denver sent the No. 28 pick in the 2015 draft, offensive lineman Manny Ramirez and two fifth-round picks to Detroit for the right to move up to No. 23

“I owe the Broncos,’’ Ray said. “I’m indebted to them so much (for the draft selection). … I ended up a Denver Bronco and being able to be part of one of the greatest defenses that ever played this game and win a Super Bowl and learn from two of my favorite players (in Miller and Ware).”

As a rookie, Ray got into 14 games without a start and had four sacks. In the Broncos’ 24-10 win over Carolina in Super Bowl 50, he had a forced fumble, a quarterback hit and two tackles while playing 20 defensive snaps.

“It was a surreal experience,’’ Ray said of the win. “It’s one of those experiences where, ‘Is this really happening?’ … Once it was over and we were champions, it was like, ‘Wow. OK. This just happened. What’s next?’’’

Next was Ray really starting to emerge in 2016. With Ware out due to a broken forearm, Ray made his first NFL start in Week 3 and had three sacks in a 29-17 win at Cincinnati.

“I just did that on Andrew Whitworth,’’ Ray said of going against the Bengals’ All-Pro left tackle. “I give him his respect (but I thought) I’m where I need to be as a player.”

Ray said he was “firing on all cylinders and was putting it all together” that season. Bernie Fowler, a Broncos wide receiver from 2014-17, agrees.

“He was really good,’’ he said. “He was getting off to an incredible start in his career. To have three sacks in (his first start) was crazy.”

When training camp arrived the next season, Ray was preparing to show his stuff off as a regular starter.

“Everything seemed like it was right,’’ Ray said. “My offseason went great. … Then I hurt my wrist, and it was kind of like everything changed in that moment (with) all the positive stuff that I thought was about to happen and getting another contract offer. I just knew going into that third season I’m going to have a 10-plus sack season. … I was ready, and that just wasn’t the plan for the universe.”

Ray had been hurt early in camp when his hand got caught on an offensive lineman and he “heard a pop.” At first the injury wasn’t thought to be serious, and Ray continued to practice that day and the next day while wearing extra tape on his wrist.

But the wrist, despite X-rays having been negative, continued to hurt, so Ray was sent for an MRI. It was determined he had a torn ligament and would need surgery. The procedure turned out to be much more complicated than Ray expected.

“The doctor said when he cut my wrist open, there was nothing holding my wrist into the socket,’’ Ray said. “Literally, the bone just popped out of my arm. … It went from ligament repair to a whole structural, screw the bones back together, put the wrist back together, and repair the ligament.

“I initially went in for a couple-hour surgery and my surgery ended up being multiple, multiple hours, and this is unknown to me until I woke up from the surgery that I had this much damage to my wrist.”

Ray was placed on injured reserve for the first six games in 2017 before he finally returned to the lineup. But after playing in eight games and having only one sack, Ray was put back on injured reserve for the final two games and soon had another surgery.

“I’m not healing,’’ Ray said of his ongoing ordeal. “My wrist is not getting better, and I couldn’t figure out why at the time. … There were times when I thought I would never be able to do a push-up again. It was nerve-wracking for me to walk normally in crowded areas because I was afraid that I would bump into somebody with my wrist.

“It was 10 out of 10 pain for a year plus and it was not going away. … You can’t do anything in football and be successful. … I can’t even pick up a five-pound weight yet I’m trying to keep an offensive lineman from holding me.”

In 2018, Ray went to a specialist to see why his wrist wasn’t healing and why he remained in great pain.

“The doctors said I was suffering from necrosis in my bones, which means I had no blood flow to the bones in my wrist that I had surgery on, and it was causing the bones to die,’’ he said.

Ray said surgery was initially recommended in which some bone would be taken from his upper arm and attached to his wrist. However, Ray, who said he “broke down” after hearing that, didn’t want to have another surgery. It was eventually decided his wrist would be shot up during the 2018 season with cortisone to dull the pain in what he called a “short-term fix.”

In what turned out to be his final Denver season, Ray was still hampered by the injury. He didn’t start any of the 11 games he played and had just one sack.

“(The injury) definitely derailed his career,’’ said Chris Harris Jr., a Broncos cornerback from 2011-19. “When you have an injury like that, you can’t use your moves the same way. You could tell he was frustrated that he couldn’t do the things he wanted.”

By 2018, the Broncos had replaced Ray in the lineup with Bradley Chubb, who was taken with the No. 5 pick in the draft and had 12 sacks as a rookie. Ray said he had a good relationship with Chubb, and he understood it was a business decision to have brought to the Broncos.

“When you get injured and you can’t produce, they’ve got to find somebody who can do the job and unfortunately for me, as much as I would have loved to continue my career in Denver, (it didn’t happen),’’ he said.

After Ray became a free agent in 2019, he was signed by the Baltimore Ravens but failed to make the team while playing with a wrist that still bothered him. He doesn’t deny there were some tough times around then.

“Initially, leaving Denver I was bitter just in the sense of I felt like you guys drafted me here and I just thought that how I would be taken care of would be a little bit different (with his injury),’’ Ray said. “It’s like sometimes you get in a situation of where you might start to look at all the negatives. … Leaving Denver, it took me some time to definitely not feel that bitterness.”

As the years went by, Ray said he “just kind of grew out” of his bitterness. He said he began to “look at my experiences in Denver with all the positives.” He said as he has “gotten older” he realizes he has “a lot of love for Denver” with all the people he met there and with being able to win a Super Bowl. He still comes to the city regularly to visit his 6-year-old daughter Savayah.

As time passed, Ray continued to work on his wrist, and it became better although Ray said it’s “never going to be what it was.” He said he eventually will need that surgery he previously declined but that he’s generally been “pretty pain free.”

In 2021, he became rejuvenated when he joined the Argonauts.

“Leaving Denver and being out of the league for two years, it was tough because it was the first time as far as identity-wise, I wasn’t a football player,’’ he said. “Going to the CFL brought life back to me because I was down. … When you don’t have the success, you think you should have, it kind of makes you question your talent and your skill. … Being back in the football world, I just regained my confidence.”

After getting into just five games in 2021 due to the broken finger, Ray made great strides in 2022 after Corey Mace came to Toronto as defensive coordinator.

“The first thing you could see was his football intelligence,’’ said Mace, now Ray’s head coach with the Roughriders. “He’s a good athlete and good technician. And Shane wasn’t the kind of vet who would hide any of his secrets. He was always trying to teach the young guys and share the knowledge, which I thought was tremendous.”

Ray missed the playoffs, including Toronto’s 24-23 win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to claim the Grey Cup, after suffering a torn bicep. Mace said Ray was “crushed” by not being able to play then but did what he could off the field.

“He and another player bought out a theater for the players to go watch a movie,’’ Mace said of the week leading up to the Grey Cup. “It was on their own dime. That was pretty cool.”

Although disappointed by not playing in the Grey Cup, Ray does proudly say that “I’m a champion in two” leagues.

Ray, though, wanted to get back in the NFL. So, he didn’t return to the CFL in 2023, instead signing with the Bills.

Ray suffered a pulled hamstring before the second preseason game and soon was released with an injury settlement. He got another chance in 2024 with the Titans but failed to make the roster.

“I think I was more at peace because those were two situations where I knew it was literally nothing else, I could have done (in an attempt to make the team),’’ Ray said.

Ray believed he would have cracked the Bills’ roster had he not gotten hurt. He believed not making the Titans had a lot to do with his age and them wanting to go with younger players.

After leaving the Argonauts, Ray had remained in touch with Mace, who took over the Roughriders in 2024, and a deal was reached for a return to Canada. Mace said he’s “excited to work with him again” and expects Ray will “really push our team to the ultimate goal,” that being the Grey Cup.

“With all this training I’ve done, I just want to go play ball,’’ Ray said. “The CFL is just offering that opportunity for me right now. I’m about to turn 32. … So, if my time is running out, I’m just trying to get on the field and have fun.”

Ray has been working out regularly this decade, including the past three years under the tutelage of noted fitness trainer Taylor Scott at Tampa’s Trench Academy.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been,’’ Ray said. “I’m 250 pounds, 13% body fat, running as fast as I’ve run, jumping as high as I’ve ever jumped. … I’ve literally been training year-round for four years because you never want to get a call and you’re not in shape.”

Scott said many of his Ray’s numbers are better than when he entered the NFL 10 years ago.

“Where he’s at now right now in his early 30s is probably better than it was in his early 20s,’’ Scott said. “He’s well over 650 pounds in the squat and well over 400 pounds in the bench press. … He’s rocking a six-pack.”

Ray wants to leave everything on the field this season because, even though he has hopes of getting another NFL shot, he realizes it could be his swan song in football.

“It’s just really depending on how I feel,’’ Ray said. “But I’ve taken this offseason preparation as if it would be my last year playing professional ball. … We’ll see how it’s looking. I might hang it up after this one.”

In the meantime, Bernie Fowler, who continues to keep in touch with Ray, is glad to see him continuing to suit up.

“I think if you love something as much as he loves football, why not continue to do it,’’ he said.

The former receiver was asked how good Ray might have become had he not suffered the wrist injury.

“The projectory he was on, I definitely feel he would have been a Pro Bowl-caliber player,’’ he said. “He possibly could have been in Denver eight to 10 years.”

Harris said, “if he didn’t get injured” that Ray “definitely would still be in the NFL.”

Instead, Ray hasn’t played in an NFL regular-season game since he got in for 31 defensive snaps in a reserve role and had one tackle in Denver’s 20-14 loss at San Francisco on Dec. 9, 2018. But he’s now at peace with that.

“In the NFL, very rarely does a guy get to ride out into the sunset how he wants to ride out,’’ Ray said. “So, it’s just understanding that more. … I’ve been able to do incredible things in my life that most people would never get to sniff. And you’ve got to be grateful. Obviously, I’ve had hardships, but that is life. …I’ve been on this road and as bumpy as it’s been and as smooth as it’s been, I’ve been able to weather the storm and continue to go.”