Ray Guy, Greatest Punter, Ever dies

[Chandler#81]

Just reported on WGR.

 

will update with Twitter when it hits

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Chandler#81

[dollars 2 donuts]

3 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

Just reported on WGR.

 

will update with Twitter when it hits

 

 

 

 

Back in the day when punters weren't good, he was great.

 

I hate that my world is less and less populated by those who so intrigued me and caught my attention as a kid.

 

RIP, Sir.

 

[Freddie's Dead]

RIP Ray Guy, a unique individual who changed the nature of the game.

[Shaw66]

In terms of pure stats, I'm sure that Ray Guy's numbers no longer stand out.  But measured against his era, he was indeed the greatest punter ever. 

 

He was taken in the first round, maybe the only punter ever taken in the first round.  He could put the ball wherever you wanted it.  He could hit the coffin corner.  He could get hang time.  He could hit line drives over the return man's head.  He could run, and he could pass.   We all loved Moorman, because he was a weapon.  Ray Guy was a much better weapon.   He was dominant.  

 

Of course, teams scored less and punted more in those days, and punters were more important than they are today.  In the field-position-game that they played back then, he was one of the most valuable players in the league.  

[Chandler#81]

 

[BillsShredder83]

Can still get a punt off quicker than Haack

Edited November 3, 2022 by BillsShredder83

[Big Turk]

25 minutes ago, dollars 2 donuts said:

 

 

Back in the day when punters weren't good, he was great.

 

I hate that my world is less and less populated by those who so intrigued me and caught my attention as a kid.

 

RIP, Sir.

 

 

RIP for sure...BUT

 

Does that really make him the greatest punter ever tho? 

 

I would actually nominate Sammy Baugh for that...most people know him for his QB heroics as "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh, but few know that he is STILL top 30 all-time in career punting average at 45.1 Yards/Punt.  And it's not like he only hit a few of them, he punted 338 times in his career. This was back when punting wasn't looked at as something you practiced, players just kinda went out there and did it on gameday and most played other positions as well.  Baugh was an elite punter who played QB most of the time...it would be like if Josh Allen played QB and only practiced during the week at QB but then came out and also was one of the best punters in NFL history. Far more impressive than a guy who only does punting to me and focused on it all week long.

 

In fact, what is even more impressive is that Baugh is the only player in the top 30(he is 29th) that didn't start his career in the 2000's, which obviously shows how much punters(and obviously kickers as well) have improved throughout the years. Baugh's career started in 1937 and ended in 1952.  It took 48 years for a punter starting his career then to be better than him doing something that was something he didn't even really practice doing.  That's impressive.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Big Turk

[TheBrownBear]

5 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

Does that really make him the greatest punter ever tho? 

 

I would actually nominate Sammy Baugh for that...most people know him for his QB heroics as "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh, but few know that he is STILL top 30 all-time in career punting average at 45.1 Yards/Punt.  And it's not like he only hit a few of them, he punted 338 times in his career. This was back when punting wasn't looked at as something you practiced, players just kinda went out there and did it on gameday and most played other positions as well.  Baugh was an elite punter who played QB most of the time...it would be like if Josh Allen played QB and only practiced during the week at QB but then came out and also was one of the best punters in NFL history. Far more impressive than a guy who only does punting to me and focused on it all week long.

You've convinced me.  Ray was just a Guy.

 

JK...RIP, Ray Guy.

[Logic]

16 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

In terms of pure stats, I'm sure that Ray Guy's numbers no longer stand out.  But measured against his era, he was indeed the greatest punter ever. 

 

He was taken in the first round, maybe the only punter ever taken in the first round.  He could put the ball wherever you wanted it.  He could hit the coffin corner.  He could get hang time.  He could hit line drives over the return man's head.  He could run, and he could pass.   We all loved Moorman, because he was a weapon.  Ray Guy was a much better weapon.   He was dominant.  

 

Of course, teams scored less and punted more in those days, and punters were more important than they are today.  In the field-position-game that they played back then, he was one of the most valuable players in the league.  

I've been reading "How Football Became Football" by Timothy P Brown -- I highly recommend it. It traces football from its creation by ivy league schools in the late 1800s through the modern day, tracking all of the evolutions in rules, equipment, playing styles, personnel, etc. Aaaanyway....

I was surprised to learn that in its first 30 or so years, football was much more of a kicking game. Field position was king. Gaining yards was a slog, so teams often punted after 2nd or 3rd down. Punters used to be get the national acclaim and newspaper writeups that QBs get today. It was not uncommon to see tense, back-and-forth punting battles with a 3-0 final score.

Anyway, I guess this is sort of off topic, since Guy punted many years later. Hearing you describe him as a weapon made me think back to the inception of football, when punters really WERE the pre-eminent weapons. 

At any rate, anyone interested in how football evolved should pick this book up. Great stuff.
 

[BuffaloBillyG]

Put into modern terms...Ray Guy was HIM.

 

 

[First Round Bust]

always have and will hate the Raiders as an org thanks to Al Davis and kin...but always have loved lotsa their players like Ray Guy and Fred Biletnikof, Cliff Branch, Jim Otto, Shell and Upshaw, etc...sad to hear...rest in peace to the original and one and only punt god....

[Rico]

RIP Ray, the GOAT of punters, and 3 rings isn’t too shabby.

[gomper]

Bum Phillips would ask to inspect the balls because he thought they were filled with helium because Guy was so good.  Lol

[Chandler#81]

 

[BuffaloBill]

May he R.i.P.

[T master]

RIP !! he was a great punter & a great Guy !!!

 

Sorry i just had too ...

[Big Turk]

8 minutes ago, gomper said:

Bum Phillips would ask to inspect the balls because he thought they were filled with helium because Guy was so good.  Lol

 

Imagine what he would have done against Brady...

[Shaw66]

8 minutes ago, Logic said:

I've been reading "How Football Became Football" by Timothy P Brown -- I highly recommend it. It traces football from its creation by ivy league schools in the late 1800s through the modern day, tracking all of the evolutions in rules, equipment, playing styles, personnel, etc. Aaaanyway....

I was surprised to learn that in its first 30 or so years, football was much more of a kicking game. Field position was king. Gaining yards was a slog, so teams often punted after 2nd or 3rd down. Punters used to be get the national acclaim and newspaper writeups that QBs get today. It was not uncommon to see tense, back-and-forth punting battles with a 3-0 final score.

Anyway, I guess this is sort of off topic, since Guy punted many years later. Hearing you describe him as a weapon made me think back to the inception of football, when punters really WERE the pre-eminent weapons. 

At any rate, anyone interested in how football evolved should pick this book up. Great stuff.
 

Cool.  Thanks.  

 

By the time I started watching football in the 50s, the commentators always talked about field position.  But by then teams were moving the ball up and down the field better than the earlier eras you're talking about.   Still, in the fifties, you knew going for it on fourth down anyplace other than inside the 20 was nuts, completely nuts.   Punt it.   What the NFL has discovered is that the game is more exciting if offenses are good enough that they can afford to take the risk of going for it.  The field position/punting game is dramatic, but boring.  And in that game, turnovers were even more important than today.  

 

I was generally a Jauron supporter, but he was definitely mired in an earlier era.   He was very much a field position guy.  He really did believe that punting was a good play.  

 

One thing that demonstrates how focus on field position is still important is how the rules about missed field goals have changed.   It used to be the case that missed field goal turned the ball over to the other team where the ball was downed, so a missed field goal was often as good as a punt, or resulted in a touchback.  In order to get more offense, and to discourage teams from kicking field goals all the time (which is what was going on in the 50s and 60s), they changed it to missed field goals turn over the ball at the line of scrimmage.   Then, for the same reasons, they changed it to the spot the ball was kicked from.  Those changes kept making offense more and more important, and as that happened, punting became less important.  

[Gugny]

1 minute ago, T master said:

RIP !! he was a great punter & a great Guy !!!

 

Sorry i just had too ...

 

He was a Ray of sunshine.

[Beast]

Great athlete. The OBJ of punters.

 

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Beast