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Ray Guy, the first punter to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Thursday. He was 72.
Southern Mississippi, where Guy starred before becoming the first punter ever taken in the first round of the NFL draft, said he died following a lengthy illness. He had been receiving care in a Hattiesburg-area hospice.
Guy was drafted 23rd overall by Al Davis’ Raiders in 1973 and played his entire 14-year career with the team. He was a three-time All-Pro selection. In 2014, he became the first player to make be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame exclusively for his punting.
“Ray Guy was a football player who punted,” the late John Madden said in 2014 before he presented Guy for induction into the Hall of Fame.
Guy was selected to the NFL’s 75th anniversary team and the 1970’s all-decade team. He was a three-time Super Bowl champion and seven-time Pro Bowl selection.
Madden said the first time he watched Guy punt in practice for the Raiders, he knew the team had something special.
“He punted the longest, highest footballs that I had ever seen,” Madden said then.
