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“From the minute I got here, those were the names that you’re hearing about,” Ray recalled. “I got to meet those players and you definitely feel the family and the unity of being a part of this Eskimo franchise and I just feel lucky I got a chance to play here.”

That opportunity now belongs to Trevor Harris and Logan Kilgore, a tandem that cut its teeth in the CFL under Ray while they were with the Toronto Argonauts together.

And Ray’s first quarterbacks coach after getting traded to Toronto ahead of the 2012 season was none other than Maas in his first stop in the transition to a coaching career.

While Ray’s no longer part of the picture, the group is right back where it all began for him.

“I know. We just laughed about it, Trevor and Logan were like, ‘Man, you couldn’t imagine that we’re playing here in Edmonton and Ricky gets inducted to go up on the wall,’ Ray said. “It’s pretty funny from where we came from, and with Jason here as well.

“It just makes it more special.”

Ray’s visit isn’t official. He’s up from his family’s home in Redding, Calif., visiting friends and stopped in to see Maas, of course.

Whether he did it with designs on one day following his former teammate into the coaching ranks remains to be seen.

“I don’t know, I think it could be,” Ray said of his future. “I’m still trying to figure all that out and taking some time throughout this year. But it would definitely be great to stay in football somehow and coaching would be something that I’d be very interested in doing.