Ray Guy - Playing Success

Playing Success

Ray Guy was the first and only punter ever to be selected in the first round in the NFL Draft as of 1973. Ray Guy retired in 1986. During his career, Guy:

• Played in 207 consecutive games
• Punted 1,049 times for 44,493 yards, averaging 42.4 yards per punt, with a 33.8 net yards average
• Had 210 punts inside the 20 yard line (not counting his first 3 seasons, when the NFL did not keep track of this stat), with just 128 touchbacks
• Led the NFL in punting three times
• Had a streak of 619 consecutive punts before having one blocked
• Has a record of 111 career punts in post season games
• Had five punts of over 60 yards during the 1981 season

Ray Guy was selected to seven AFC Pro Bowl teams, and in 1994, he was named the punter on the National Football League's 75th Anniversary Team.

He was also an outstanding placekicker at Southern Mississippi, once kicking a then-record 61-yard field goal in a snowstorm during a game in Utah. In 1972 he kicked a 93- yard punt in a game against the University of Mississippi. After his senior season at Southern Miss, Guy was named Most Valuable Player of the 1973 Chicago College All-Star Game, in which an all-star team of college seniors played the current Super Bowl champion. And in addition to his kicking prowess, Guy was also a starting safety in college. During his senior season, he intercepted a USM record eight passes, and was named an All-American defensive back. Guy also played quarterback in his early years and was officially the Oakland Raiders' last-string emergency quarterback, ironically replacing kicker-quarterback George Blanda in this position. During the time that Blanda was still with the Raiders, early in Guy's career, Guy would occasionally do kickoffs for the Raiders because the aging Blanda no longer had great range.

Ray Guy has been inducted into both the Mississippi and Georgia Sports Halls of Fame, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame, and many feel he is worthy of induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1994, he was the first pure punter to be nominated for enshrinement. On April 21, 2008, Guy was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Joe Horrigan, the historian of the Pro Football Hall of Fame once said: "He's the first punter you could look at and say: 'He won games.'" Guy's punts often doomed opposing offenses to poor field position.

At the 1976 Pro Bowl, Ray Guy became the first punter to hit the Louisiana Superdome video screen. Officials raised the screen from 90 feet to 200 feet. The NFC team pulled the ball and had it tested for helium; it was filled with regular air. The hangtime statistic was also instituted in the NFL during his time, possibly because of him.