Post by TheShadow on Feb 2, 2007 18:11:31 GMT -5
www.ajc.com/
By STEVE HUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since holstering his leg for good in 1986, Ray Guy admits that he hasn't been a keen student of professional football. So, forgive him if his analysis of the Super Bowl match-up between Hunter Smith and Brad Maynard lacks the gravitas of every other utterance this week.
He has the better intelligence on Smith. As a youngster, he had attended a couple of Guy's camps. "I know a little about Hunter. He can be just as good as he wants to be," Guy said. But Smith punts for the Colts, the team with the high-glam offense. He's like the cup holder on a Porsche.
On the other hand, Guy also recognizes that Chicago destroyed New Orleans on special teams in the NFC championship game. Thus, Guy looks at the burning question of Super Sunday's punting game, and rates it: About even.
In other ways, Super Bowl weekend represents an anxious time for Thomson, Ga.'s football star in residence. Every year about this time, the gatekeepers to the NFL Hall of Fame caucus and decide which players are worthy of eternity. Every year about this time, Guy is left wondering whether what he did for a living — kick the ball away as the weapon of last resort — ever will be considered important enough for Canton-ization.
"Yeah, I'm excited on the inside, but I try not to show it on the outside," he said, with the deep drawl that 14 seasons of punting in Oakland couldn't dent. Yes, he still talks like a regular Guy.
Saturday, he'll be at his home about 30 minutes outside Augusta doing much the same as he has since becoming the first pure punter nominated to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1994 — waiting. It might be a title that couldn't spark a debate at a Punt, Pass and Kick kegger, but you certainly could call Guy, 57, the world's most famous punter. His name and likeness is on the award given every year to college football's best leg. He was the punter on the NFL's 75th anniversary team. He has pinned back more opposing forces than Patton.
It just has been a hard sell, the idea of putting a punter in the Hall along with the rest of the "real football players." Hard enough that 80 percent of the voters on the media panel that decides such matters have yet to be convinced.
"He has gotten pretty solid support; mostly everything has been positive. Still, there's a choking point as far as a special teams guy goes," said ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli, the Atlanta representative among the Hall of Fame selectors.
This year's Hall of Fame class of 17 finalists does not have a great number of can't-miss characters. Among the leaders are former commissioner Paul Tagliabue, running back Thurman Thomas, receiver Michael Irvin and offensive lineman Bruce Matthews. That works a little in Guy's favor.
But, as Pasquarelli says, "It's hard for any specialist. They tend to fall through the cracks. There are only six slots maximum every year, and it's like some guys feel it's almost a waste to use one on a specialist."
Guy can remember dramatic, game-changing moments. Like the time in the 1981 postseason when he flipped the field on San Diego in the last couple minutes with a 73-yard punt. "You could look at Dan [Fouts, the Chargers quarterback] and see the frustration in his face. They thought they were going to get good field position and drive for the win," Guy said.
There have been tales of epic leg strength. Former Raiders coach John Madden once testified that Guy in practice kicked a ball from the back of one end zone to the back of the other, 120 yards. Guy famously hit the camera gondola hanging from the roof of the New Orleans Superdome in 1976, one of a couple domes that couldn't hold him.
"He is the great punter of his generation," Pasquarelli said. The first punter taken in the draft's first round, Guy averaged 42.4 yards per kick, over the course of 1,049 punts and 14 seasons.
But it is difficult to quantify a punter's greater impact on the game. Fans still would rather see a Frisbee-catching dog come onto the field than their punter.
While this is not a consuming thing — Guy is much too busy conducting a series of kicking camps around the country as well as holding down a full-time gig at Hoover Treated Wood Products in Thomson — he would like to see his position recognized.
Guy brought a real athleticism to punting. At Thomson he won two state titles while playing quarterback and safety, as well as handling the kicking chores. With both Southern Miss and the Raiders, he regularly displayed his other skills on the practice field. But the punt is the thing.
"Whether I came into a game one time or 12 times, I had to think I could make a difference," he said. "I could make a difference on one play by gaining a lot of ground for my team.
"I've heard the comments that 'anybody can punt.' Well, yeah, maybe you can pick up a ball and hit it. But to be a contributing factor, you better know what you're doing."
If nothing else, respect the art of the punt. Regardless of how the Hall of Fame voting comes out, Guy has a request of fans. It's one that can be adapted to your own Super Bowl party this Sunday, when Misters Smith and Maynard are in action.
"When it's fourth down, don't go get your beer and hot dog. Some great things can happen then. Get your beer and hot dog at halftime."