Career
After playing at Lincoln High School (San Diego, California), he signed with the University of Oregon, where he played offensive and defensive halfback. In 1961 he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, but because Tom Landry did not have room for him on the roster, Gil Brandt called Dallas Texans head coach Hank Stram and suggested he give Grayson a try. Grayson made the team and played four years with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs before joining the Oakland Raiders in 1965.
Grayson held the American Federation of Labor-Congress record for longest interception return for a touchdown, 99 yards, against the New York Titans in 1961.
Grayson was an American Football League All-Star six times, in Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs in 1962, 1963 and 1964, and in Oakland Raiders in 1965, 1966 and 1969. He made a 48-yard return with the opening kickoff against the Oilers in the 1967 American Federation of Labor-Congress Championship Game.
At Oakland in 1968, he led the American Football League with ten interceptions. He is the all-time American Federation of Labor-Congress leader in interceptions with 47, for a 20-yard return average and 5 touchdowns, and he averaged 25.4 yards on 110 kickoff returns.
Grayson"s son, David Lee Grayson, Junior. also played in the NFL in 1987 thru 1990 with the Cleveland Browns and in 1991 with the San Diego Chargers.
