R.I.P. Ray Guy

Only punter to get drafted in the first round, Never had a punt returned for a TD, and the best college punter receives the "Ray Guy Award" to this day. He literally mastered the art of kicking the ball out of bounds accurately deep in the enemy's own territory. To do this in a time when NO ONE did this is beyond amazing. He also was the reason why the NFL made hangtime a stat. Moral of the story: Ray Guy DESERVES to be in the HOF.

Rest Easy Ray Guy

Greatest pro football punter in NFL History = Ray Guy

Just watching Ray Guy punt was a thing of beauty, an athletic marvel. For most of his career, he was the Raiders' emergency, 3rd string quarterback, owing to the fact that he had played the position before getting to the NFL. Given his great athleticism, I am surprised the Raiders did not attempt more fakes with Guy at the controls, like the Rams' did with Johnny Hekker. Punting is the most misunderstood aspect of football. A good punter is a smart defensive weapon against today's high powered offenses.

Ray Guy and Reggie Roby, the two best punters ever.

He is in the 2014 Hall of Fame

He should be in the Hall of fame PERIOD!!!

Looking for video of Guy hitting that screen in the SuperDome. That was a moment. I remember watching it when it happened. Ray Guy was one of my childhood heroes. Rest easy Ray. Rest easy.

Ray Guy would be pissed if he didn't get the ball inside the 5 yard line. We all tried to be Ray Guy as kids. He was the best.

Ray Guy was on all 3 Raiders Super Bowl Championship Teams.

This guy deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Enough already.

I posted this video 13 years ago ... Rest In Peace Ray Guy

Tell that to Jan Stenerud. Class of 1991 And don't forget Adam Vinatieri

absolutely amazed to watch his punts...need more highlights

Someone should take a punter or kicker in the first round, the chaos would be so good.

You want a touchdown, you’re going to have to earn it!

I watched him for almost all his career. You can't calculate how many games the Raiders won because they won the battle of field position from his punting. I'd like to see them tally up all the punts he made from the end zone and the opposing returner ended up making a fair catch between his own 35-40 yard line. It's been a quarter century since he retired and they are still looking for the "next Ray Guy."

The tricky part is that some people have higher averages. So I don't know if they'll ever do it. But I loved him as a kid. Does anyone remember one play when there was a bad snap, he had to take a moment to recover it, looked up, saw no one rushing him, and took off, running behind the players as they all took off downfield? He ran a huge distance....my kid memory is like 40 yards on the play or something, but that was a long time ago.

guy was an all-american defensive back at u. so. miss. he had 8 interceptions his senior season.

Guy was also hurt by stats that were not kept for his entire career like net yards per punt. Rule changes in 1974 made it so that only two special team players could rush the return man (the rest having to wait until the ball was kicked) -previous to that time any number of players could rush the returner or down the ball.

When I think of punters, I think of Ray Guy. Period.

Fred McNeil......

I wish he was around nowadays so I could see him properly. When they're talking of his 70 yard punts, well, who else does that?

The punter of the year award is called the ray guy award. how the hell is he not in the hall of fame?

ray guy is hall of fame to me...i don't care what is voted on,he is the best that ever played his position..and more,i remember him holding for field goals,even being an emegency QB at one time,and making tackles on returns...nobody returned a ray guy punt for a TD

And Reggie Roby had to be a close second.

finally a mr. hangtime upload. thanks for the memories. he was a freakishly good safety as well.

@placekicker. He was the first punter to be able to boom and pooch quick on the same motion. Likewise, he invented hang-time.

That's cause he's a defensive coach.

How is it a steal if he went number 1?

ive been looking for his jersey for ages

does anyone know who the #4 punter in the vid is? when they say "mediocre punting"

@mtavares92 If you were a coach would u prioritize getting a punter over any other position? Would u rather have ray guy the best punter in history or Reggie Wayne a guy who wont even be in the top 10 of greatest receivers?, or Steven Jackson who isnt a top 10 runningback in history, or Drew Brees who isnt in the top 10 quarterbacks?, would u take guy over Champ Bailey, Julius Peppers, Patrick Willis, or even Nick Collins? You would probably pick either one of those guys instead of ray guy

At Southern Miss Ray Guy was also a safety, intercepted 8 passes in his senior year and was an All-American at defensive back. I kicked a 61 yard field goal against Utah in a blinding snow storm. At Oakland he was the emergency quarterback during his career and took over for Bland for kickoffs at the end of Blanda's career. Ray was everything and deserves a place in the Hall.

The punter is the most important position in football, period.

@placekicker It's a crime. The entire HOF system is a sham if certain players can't get in because of what position they play. The entire point of the HOF is the very best at every position. There should be as many kickers and punters as their are QBs. It should be the top 5% of every position. Cream of the crop

Ray Guy was a brilliant NFL Punter, but was he the best? Look at Xenon Andrusyshyn of the Canadian Football League. Longest Punt: 108 yds Longest kickoff: 80 yds Longest Field Goal: 57 yds Avr. Kickoff: 57.3 yds Avr. Punting: 45.1 yds en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenon_Andrusyshyn

Two best Punters 1. Ray Guy 2. Reggie Roby

If special teams players don't belong in the hall of fame, THEN WHY THE HELL IS JAN STENERUD IN?

If Ray Guy was #1 then Reggie Roby was #2. Roby could punt too.

Post-it brought me here.

@ Dogd67 No punter or kicker will ever be in the hall of fame. they are not every down players

in 1979 I saw Guy win a game for the raiders in Denver a defensive battle Oak won 14-10.Orange crush got tough in 2nd half and particular the 4th QTR and was giving oakland 3 & outs deep in Oak territory and Guy kept hitting punts of 60 + yards w hang time and denver would never get good field position no matter what. Had to go the length of the field. He should be in the HOF. He proved what a weapon a punter can be.

At 1:25, That was actually the radio call of Ray Guys punt blocked in Superbowl 11.

If the other team wanted a touchdown, they were going to have to earn it against Ray Guy.

@Boomer1719 ask a defensive coordinator every year would u prioritize having a punter or a Cornerback, defensive end, defensive tackle, safety, or linebacker so everyone who worked harder should go first than him. WHICH IS EVERYONE, Im not saying it doesnt take skills to punt a ball high im just saying it takes more skill to chase down players and make a damn tackle. WHEN every single pro bowl caliber defensive and offensive player makes the hall of fame then we should let punters in

Kris Kluwe brought me here

Do the writers know that at 2:23 that was in the Super Bowl and probably saved the game for the Raiders. I think it was still scoreless. Just look at the athleticism of Ray Guy. I remember as a kid going to Raiders practices and seeing him BOOM kicks from the 30-35 yard line into the coffin corner at the 5 and making it into a TRASH CAN. That's incredible. Put Guy into the HOF and maybe the Raider curse will be lifted. They never won a Super Bowl without him. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not!

It's really irritating when the NFL puts on films like this and then spends most of the segment showing dudes talking about the player instead of more highlights of the actual player. I think we all wanted to see some damn Ray Guy highlights and all we get are about 4 partial plays and one coffin corner.

@MrCeej9999 Completly agree

they should let whoever scouts the raiders punters to scout every position!

@paperdriven true, well i take that back then!

@dylbagsmcawsum They did...his name was Al Davis.

You guys must be forgetting how big of a deal special teams is. Having a great punter or a shity one is the difference between a 15 yard return or pin that offense inside their 10. Ray Guy was such a great punter, that he never, during his college and pro NFL carreer, had one punt returned for a touchdown. Also his gross average may be 42, but his net average was very very low which is impressive. He should be made an example of all who aspire to master the mechanics of punting

define draft steal...

who the fuck is ron stark

Ray Guy = Football player. He could kick, tackle and throw a football. If the HOF is to be taken seriously then Ray Guy needs to be in there. Not to mention the Snake......

I hate only one team in all of sports and that's the Oakland Raiders. However, Ray Guy was amazing and should definitely be in the Hall of Fame. No one did it better than Ray Guy.

2:23 ... did he borrow Fred's stickum?

During Pre-Game we would go to the Top of the Oakland Stadium and watch Ray Guys practice punts go above the top of the Stadium. Bum Phillips Houston Oilers staff stole some the balls to have the University of Houston analyze them to see if the Raiders used Helium in the balls for Ray Guy's Punts!

@missionbears you can ask any defensive coordinator, without a punter the defense would be screwed in many situations, if the offense screws up and they are stuck in the end zone who bails them out, the punter. I must agree though others work harder, but he worked just as hard at his position as anyone else. He is the best at his position though, therefore he deserves to be in the HOF.

Let's take this time to rememeber Fred McNeil.

@paperdriven and as far as i know he only looked at their 40 times, so barely any scouting

i left the "h" off for health reasons.

@missionbears I would prioritize drafting a player for a position the club lacks skill with. If we had let's call it a B+ running back string, and a C- punter, I think it would be best to draft an A punter rather than an A running back. You really have no notion of how important a punter is. Good special teams allows you to win football games. It helps put less 7 points on the board.. And it is hard, and you have to work hard. Punters are football players like everybody else

@mtavares92 Let's say the best punter in decades can be taken and you had a choice between the best punter in decades or a B+ linebacker, a B+ WR and a A- Safety and your team is lacking in the field of linebacker, WR and a Safety. This punter is A++ would you seriously take this punter over the linebacker, WR or Safety? Because that is how it is every year voting except the candidates are all A+ in their respective positions. I rather induct a offensive and defensive or even coach instead

@daboozer100 so what? his significance is not as important as anybody on the offense or defense. Maybe when EVERY single pro bowl offensive and defensive player gets inducted first than they should consider ray guy. It is not right to have people who took big hits, ran through ppl, ran to tackle ppl, threw their body away should be shunned to make room for a punter who kicked it probably 4-5 times in a game

@missionbears You sir are wrong. Mastering the art of punting is quite hard. The mechanics involved, are extremely difficult to master, and remenber: You must get rid of the ball in 1.3 seconds. 0.8 snap to punter time. 1.3 seconds for the punter to handle, approarch and follow-through. Not fuckin' easy. Best at one position should deserve to be in the hall of fame

i think you are paying to much attention to the number 23. You have to consider that there has never been a pure punter selected in the first round. And that's because no one thinks a punter is worthy of that. So that's why he is a steal. Raiders saw the value that no one else did and if you look at all the players that got drafted in front of him, none of them made the impact that Guy made.

@missionbears First, if you're team really lacks good LB, WR and safeties then you have a shity team, so don't even bother. Second, even if you do need a "pro" linebacker but you got a horrible punter you should go for the pubter, if he is really that good. Ray Guy never had a punt returned for a touchdown. Imagine the impact that had on the Raiders during his tenure Never having a touchdown against Oakland on a special teams play. That is impressive. and no linebacker or WR can do that

actually, i'm the best punter ever. my name is ron stark.

@missionbears Why are you comparing one player from ONE position to that of three players from THREE different positions? Because I made no such comparison. I never said the Punter was the most important player on the field, but it certainly is important and vital, as are all positions. By the way you speak, you are no affiliated with sports whatsoever, You're probably just some internet die hard fan but never did anything. Or else you would understand that Football is a team sport

@radio53 Well, His eligibilty ran out this past year. So yeah, Senior eligibility is the only way now

8? Who makes these trash lists? 8 😂. The fact that he’s a punter drafted in the first automatically puts him in the top 5, he also made the HOF most punters will never be able to say this ever. He was a beast.

@mtavares92 A linebacker and a WR can both score a touchdown. I think what helped the raiders more during that era was Fred Bilitnekoff, Ken Stabler, Dave Casper, Willie Green, Art Shell, Mike Haynes, Marcus Allen you know that is a buttload of hall of famers. Choosing a punter over a B+ linebacker is ridiculous. That is like choosing Shane Lechler over Johnathan Vilma

rohn stark--i can't even spell my own name. i was a punter for the colts in the 80s and 90s and my punts made roby and bennet envious as hell. but, i got bored with the game and a steady paycheck and left the nfl.

@missionbears well see there i disagree i have done both, did both in high school and punting was just as hard, anyone can get in the way and hold on, to do what he did takes strength, determination, and a lot of athleticism. But i do understand your point, i just disagree with you and we all have our opinions.

@missionbears and also if you dont have a punter at all your defense will be screwed, and also i would take ray guy over those people because this is a team picking situation and i am gonna pick the best for every position.

I don't believe punters should be in the hall of fame... Just think about it every year there are like 10 inductees or so. Why should Ray Guy make it over legends like Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Shannon Sharpe, Roger Craig players who ran, took hits, bored their sweat on the field for like 40 minutes of football. All this guy did was kick a ball really high. having a punter make it over anybody who played on offense or defense is a spit in their face for those rejected

@dylbagsmcawsum MATT DODGE

That ruined my day. If Jan Stenerud, is in the HOF for field goal kicking, then Ray Guy should be a lock.

man would u rather have the greatest punter on your team or like the 20th greatest wr in history on your team? punters dont deserve to be in the hall