Hall Of Fame Punter Ray Guy Passes Away At 72, Football World Floods Social Media With Tributes

Long before there was anyone nicknamed a “Punt God” there was Ray Guy.

Sadly, Thursday morning it was reported that he had passed away at 73 years-old following a lengthy illness.

Ray Guy was so good at punting that of the 362 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he is the only punter to ever be enshrined.

Before Guy became the first pure punter ever to be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft and a eight-time NFL All-Pro, he was already a legend.

In high school, Ray Guy played quarterback, safety, linebacker, tailback, punter and kicker. In 1968, while still in high school, he averaged 49.7 yards per punt.

The day after winning the 1968 Georgia state high school football championship (his second in a row), he scored 39 points in a basketball game.

In 1969, he pitched a 15 inning shutout in the state high school baseball semi-finals.

Ray Guy was a sporting legend even before he became the best punter in NFL history

At Southern Mississippi, he kicked a 61 yard field goal in a snowstorm.

He also booted a 93 yard punt.

As a senior, Ray Guy was named Most Valuable Player of the 1973 Chicago College All-Star Game after intercepting a school record eight passes and being named an All–American defensive back.

After 14 seasons, all with the Oakland Raiders where he won three Super Bowls, Ray Guy was named the punter on the NFL’s 75th and 100th Anniversary teams.

It is widely believed that he is responsible for the hang time statistic for punts that is now widely used in football.

Since 2000, the award for the nation’s best collegiate punter has been named the Ray Guy Award.

When he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014, Guy told the crowd, “Now the Hall of Fame has a complete team.”

The “guy” lived one hell of a life and many in and around the football world have paying tribute.

“Man… this hurts to hear. Rest in peace to a LEGEND!! He changed the game and made punting for the @Raiders such a special job,” tweeted current Raiders punter A.J. Cole III.

“He was a football player, a real athlete who happened to be a great punter,” wrote Vic Tafur, Senior Writer for The Athletic.

“He made the greatest grab of a bad snap I’ve ever seen…and it was in the Super Bowl,” one fan astutely remembered with a photo of the moment.

“You are now pinned inside your own 10-yard line just for reading this tweet,” wrote the Twitter account Super70sSports.

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