Reflecting on the Hall Of Fame Career of the Raiders Ray Guy

Reflecting on the Oakland Raiders NFL Hall of Fame legend Ray Guy's career.

When Ray Guy was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the 23rd overall pick of the 1973 NFL Draft, he became the first punter ever picked in the first round.

However, in 2014 Guy accomplished an even greater achievement by being the first, and still, the only punter, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after a brilliant career that included playing on three Super Bowl champions with the Silver and Black.

“Having Ray Guy meant having a chance to make the playoffs and win the Super Bowl,” Raiders Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown said. “He was just that strong because his ability to punt–when we needed a long punt, he did it; when we needed a short punt, he did all that. He kept opposing offensive teams back in the hole a majority of the time.

“As a defense, you have a shot anytime he’s in the game punting. We didn’t worry about whether they were going to get the ball because no matter where we were on the field, a majority of their offense usually started on the other 20 or inside that sometimes.

“It’s always great to have a weapon like Ray Guy.”

The 6-3, 195-pound Guy was a talented all-around athlete, a star pitcher drafted four times by major league baseball teams, but instead went to Southern Mississippi to play football.

Not only did he average 44.7 yards per put as a senior, tops in the nation in 1972, but he kicked a 61-yard field goal during a snowstorm in a game at Utah and intercepted eight passes from his safety position.

“I’d have probably enjoyed playing baseball, but football was my chosen life, and I had to go from doing pretty much everything to doing one thing (punting),” said Guy, who also had a 93-yard punt against Mississippi.

“But that one thing was very important because I knew all through my life how important it was. I made it into, I wouldn’t call it dominating position, but I knew I could change field position and help the team win, in any circumstances where it’s in the middle of the field or backed up in the end zone.

“That didn’t bother me. Just bring it on, let’s go with it.”

Guy punted 1,049 times for 44,493 yards, a 42.4-yard average, in 14 NFL seasons, all with the Raiders in Oakland and Los Angeles, and had only three punts blocked. In his 11 seasons in which the NFL counted punts inside the 20, he had a total of 209.

His longest punts as a pro went for 77, 72, and 71 yards.

In addition, Guy added an NFL record of 111 punts for 4,706 yards, equaling his career average of 42.4.

Pro Football Hall of Fame historian Joe Horrigan once said of Guy: “He’s the first punter you could look at and say: ‘He won games.’”

Guy also was the Raiders’ emergency quarterback and completed two of three passes for 54 yards on fake punts, but he never saw the field on offense because of the chance he might be injured.

“There is no question he was a real football player,” Raiders Hall of Fame Coach John Madden said. “I just didn’t let him play. He was too valuable as a punter. He threw harder than (Kenny) Stabler.

“I used to tell our quarterback: ‘If it gets to third down, just throw the ball away. The worst thing we have to do is let Ray Guy kick it—and that’s pretty good.”

During the Raiders’ 38-9 victory over the Washington Redskins, Guy showed his athleticism by making an incredible, one-handed leaping catch of a high snap from center and then punted the ball almost 60 yards down the field.

Guy was selected first-team All-Pro six times and second-team twice played in seven Pro Bowls and was chosen to the NFL’s 1970s All-Decade Team, the 75th Anniversary Team, and the 100th Anniversary Team.

During the 1976 Pro Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome, one of Guy’s punts hit the gondola and video screen 90 feet above the field.

“That’s the single thing I get asked about the most,” Guy said. “It was nothing like ... pre-planned.”

However, Guy admitted that when he ran on the field to punt on that play, he decided to go for it since it basically was an exhibition game.

Raider Nation, and on that day the rest of NFL Nation, really got a kick out of Ray Guy.

Tell us what you think in the comment section below and please make sure you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

Want the latest breaking Las Vegas Raiders news delivered straight to your email for FREE? Sign up for the DAILY Raiders Nation newsletter when you CLICK THE FOLLOW button on the main page. Don't miss any of the latest up to the second updates for your Las Vegas Raiders when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter