Post by TheShadow on Jan 30, 2007 4:43:39 GMT -5
www.sunherald.com/
by Jim Mashek
Lynn Swann waited nearly 20 years before the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee deemed him worthy of the NFL's ultimate distinction in 2001.
John Stallworth, his running mate with the Pittsburgh Steelers, got in the next year. Stallworth was a finalist eight times before Hall of Fame voters finally signed off on his inclusion.
Ron Yary went through the process six times before the call came from Canton, Ohio. Carl Eller, one of Minnesota's fabled "Purple People Eaters," was a 13-time finalist until the votes added up in his favor.
It's a complicated, convoluted procedure, and it works on no one's timetable but its own. On Saturday in Miami, a field of 17 finalists will be trimmed to six. Anywhere from three to six of those men will be selected. The others will have to wait some more.
Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders punter Ray Guy is a man whose time has finally come. Voters who dismiss his chances out of hand because of the position he played need to wake up and get past their own preconceived, antiquated ideas about credentials for admission.
Guy is a finalist for the sixth time, and the first time since 2002. He knows the drill.
"If it's going to happen, it's going to happen," Guy said from his home in Thomsen, Ga. "I hope I'll be the first (punter), yes. I get excited about it. As long as they're still talking about you, you're flattered. Whether it's me or someone down the road, it needs to happen someday."
The Hall of Fame process has become a rite of winter for several other worthy players, men like Washington Redskins wide receiver Art Monk, a seven-time finalist, and Bob Kuechenberg, a Miami Dolphins offensive lineman who is a finalist for the sixth straight year. It's hard to argue with Thurman Thomas' numbers, the Buffalo Bills' failures in the Super Bowl notwithstanding. But this is just Thomas' second trip through the Hall of Fame voting grinder.
Guy has been eligible for Hall of Fame induction for 15 years.
"I knew the importance of what I was doing," Guy said.
It goes beyond that.
Ray Guy defined his position. He's the only punter to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, when the Raiders made him the 23rd pick overall out of Southern Miss. The rangy 6-foot-3, 200-pound Guy may be the greatest athlete in USM history. He was a top-flight defensive back and the best pitcher on the Golden Eagles' baseball team. Guy kicked a 61-yard field goal for Southern Miss, in a snowstorm at Utah State. He could have played in the NFL in the secondary, but he was just too valuable as a specialist.
Guy was named All-Pro for six straight seasons and had a career average of 42.4 yards. He kicked off in his early days with the Raiders, when an aging George Blanda was still kicking field goals on his way to Canton. Guy had three blocked punts in his 14 years with the Raiders, and none in his first five seasons.
In the twilight of his career, when his legendary leg strength wasn't quite what it was, Guy had 57 punts downed inside the 20-yard line over a two-year span.
Most of all, though, he helped the Raiders win. Big.
Guy was part of all three of the franchise's Super Bowl champion teams, and for several years he was the Raiders' third-team quarterback.
"Coming out of college, my first choice would have been to play defense," Guy said. "It took me two to three years to get used to (being a specialist). I stayed involved with the offense in practice, but I never went to John (Madden, the Raiders' coach for most of the '70s) about playing (elsewhere). Everybody plays a position."
No one, however, played this position quite like Ray Guy.
I'm not sure anyone ever will.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has one player, Jan Stenerud, who was strictly a placekicker. Blanda, Lou Groza and Paul Hornung obviously did other things. Quite well, in fact.
It's time this politicized process finally recognizes a punter, too. And that punter is Ray Guy.