Raiders legend Ray Guy, the first punter to ever be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, passed away at the age of 72 early Thursday morning. The University of Southern Mississippi announced his passing after a lengthy battle with an unspecified illness. Guy had been receiving care at a Hattiesburg-area hospice.
Guy was originally drafted 23rd overall by the then-Oakland Raiders in 1973. He played the entirety of his 14-year NFL career with the franchise, winning three Super Bowls in 1976, 1980, and 1983. He was also a three-time First Team All-Pro selection and a one-time Second Team selection. He also made the Pro Bowl seven times in his career.
While Guy’s numbers won’t stand out, especially compared to the booming legs in today’s game, Guy revolutionized the position with his high punts, which helped the term ‘hang time’ become a norm in football, as well as his placement on kicks, regularly pinning opponents deep in their own territory.
Guy also ended his career with a streak of 619 consecutive punts without being blocked. But despite what he meant to the game, it took him nearly 30 years to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, being named a finalist seven times before finally getting the call. Before his induction in 2014, Guy opened up about what bothered him most about not getting in, via ESPN:
“That kind of bothered me because they were saying that’s not a position, it doesn’t take an athlete to do that, it’s not important,” Guy said before his Hall of Fame induction in 2014. “That’s what really got under my skin. It wasn’t so much whether I did or didn’t. I wish somebody had. It was just knowing that they didn’t care. That’s what kind of frosted me a little bit.”
Though Guy was solely a punter in the NFL, he was a real athlete, playing cornerback in college at Southern Mississippi, where he still holds the Golden Eagles’ single-season record for interceptions with eight.
