Oakland Raiders great Ray Guy dies at the age of 72
OAKLAND -- Ray Guy, who turned punting into a Hall of Fame art form in his 14 seasons with the Raiders, had died at the age of 72, he NFL announced Thursday.
Guy was the first punter ever to be selected in the first round of an NFL draft when the Raiders picked him in 1973 after a stellar collegiate career at Southern Miss.
His distinctive kicking style turned him into a valuable weapon, pinning team's deep in their territory. His longest punt was a 74-yarder against the Denver Broncos in 1977.
During those 14 years, he won three Super Bowl rings with the Raiders in Oakland and Los Angeles. He averaged 42.4 yards over his career from 1973 to 1986.
During his Hall of Fame speech, Guy -- who was also drafted by four different Major League teams as a pitcher -- said coming to the Raiders changed his life.
"Playing in the NFL with the Raiders was my destiny," he said. "I never looked back or questioned my decision."
The award given annually to the best punter in college football is named after Guy.
At Southern Mississippi, Guy also played defensive back. He still shares the school single-season record for most interceptions with eight in 1972 and his 61-yard field goal at Utah State set an NCAA record at the time.
In 2015, Southern Miss renamed the street outside The Duff Athletic Center on its campus "Ray Guy Way."
Guy ended his NFL career in 1986 with a streak of 619 punts without having one blocked. But it took nearly three decades for him to be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He was a finalist for induction seven times starting in 1992 without being voted in and didn't even make it that far on other occasions.
"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."
Guy in many ways revolutionized the position.
His kicks went so high that one that hit the Superdome scoreboard 90 feet above the field in a Pro Bowl helped put "hang time" into the football vernacular. His ability to pin the opponent deep with either high kicks or well-positioned ones was a key part of the success for the great Raiders teams of the 1970s and 80s.
"It was something that was given to me. I don't know how," he said. "I'm really blessed in that category. It's something I really appreciate and I advanced it and I made it into something great."
