Posted on 11/03/2022 5:51:14 PM PDT by KierkegaardMAN
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CONTINUING COVERAGEJackson Water Crisis The Backchannel Health Welfare Scandal Abortion Law Culture Sports Noticias en español POSTED INSPORTS RIP Ray Guy, the best athlete I ever saw Avatar photo by Rick Cleveland November 3, 2022 Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)
Ray Guy, the best athlete these eyes have ever witnessed, died Thursday morning in Hattiesburg following a long illness. He was 72.
Many times over the years, readers have asked: Who’s the best pure athlete you ever covered?
Ray Guy, I always answer. When it comes to all-around athleticism, Guy was the best.
A punter, some will invariably ask with incredulous looks?
Rick Cleveland Yes, Ray Guy was the greatest punter who ever lived and the standard by which all punters are forever judged. But Ray Guy was so much more than a punter. There was nothing with a ball — any ball — Guy could not do. I have so much to say about Ray Guy, the problem is this: Where to begin?
(Excerpt) Read more at mississippitoday.org ...
I did and I recall how the Raiders depended upon Guy alone to win more than a few games.
I live in the Bay Area and was an Oakland Raiders fan in the Ray Guy days. I knew he was a great punter, and apparently had played other positions in College - but I had no idea of the amazing breath of his athletic skills. Wow.
RIP. I remember him hitting the scoreboard in some indoor arena (probably the Superdome) with a punt, and it took a while to figure out the rule because it was assumed to be impossible. That was a long time ago. Whew.
THAT was cool. RIP Ray
Amen
May the angels sing him home
You must very young or never watched football
Ray Guy was a first round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders, when it was unheard of to draft a punter that high. I recall he was very good. RIP.
It was the 1976 ProBowl game.... I looked for a video of it but for some reason, the highlights reel doesn’t have it.
I remember the game... it was hilarious. The ball was launched and everybody who weren’t watching the ball were standing around trying to figure out where it went.
Supposedly the stat for hang time was brought into being because of Ray Guy.
Interestingly, his statistical figures would be considered decent -- not incredible -- by modern standards. In his BEST year he averaged 43.8 gross yards per punt. That number wouldn't even get you in the top 40 all time for CAREER average among NFL punters.
He's got some competition for the title of Greatest NFL Punter of All Time. A couple of names in the running would be:
- Sean Landeta, who has the unusual distinction of being named to two different NFL All-Decade teams (1980s and 1990s)
- Shane Lechler, who is a six-time All-Pro, retired with the top punting average of all time, and was a dominant punter for almost 20 years.
I read a book written by the team doctor when they were in LA. He said Ray could throw the football farther than any quarterback and throw it on target.
He tells about one time when Ray had a problem making those big hanging punts. No one could figure out what the problem was. Two or three specialists found nothing wrong. The team GP started watching Ray in practice and found the problem. Ray liked to dip and had started taping a can of Skoal to his right leg under the uniform sock. The GP took the Skoal out of his sock and in a few days Ray Guy was kicking those long, high punts again.
Where he had taped the can of snuff to his leg had put pressure on a nerve and he couldn’t completely straighten his foot.
Strange how something so simple can have that big of an effect.
And a bargain at the price. The man was awesome.
Jim Thorpe
Best athlete I have witnessed was Tiger Woods when he was winning every toutnament in PGA.
By far the best punter ever.
The latter.
yup, back in the day every football fan knew who Ray Guy was...
If you were the Raiders GM and you could go back and do the 1973 draft all over again, would you still pick Ray Guy in the first round over Dan Fouts?
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