Viva Murillo!
Someone mentioned that there was a football game this past weekend. I didn't watch it, of course. I'm not going to pretend to care about a pretend game that only "counts" in those standings that are wiped clean a month from now. If I want to see a bunch of guys in NFL jerseys I'll go to a sports bar.
(Okay, that's all I'm going to say about the annual sham known as the preseason. Really.)
I did get to watch some video of the 2008 Hall of Fame speeches, though. I like seeing great players rewarded for a successful career. They hand out rings for team accomplishments, but you can be on a perennial loser and still get a trip to Canton. It's up to the player to earn it.
But someone is missing from that list, and he deserves to be there. To his credit, he played 14 seasons (all with the same team) and racked up seven Pro Bowl selections. He was also a nine-time All Pro (the first nine years of his career). He won three Super Bowls and was named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team. He's certainly one of the very best to ever play at his position.
So what's the knock on him? He's just a punter.
Fantasy football (with very rare exceptions) doesn't even use punters, so Ray Guy would never merit much attention in this format. But he was a part off his team's success in the 70s and 80s and deserves to be in Canton. Not because of gaudy numbers: Guy's average isn't among the best in NFL history. Then again, Joe Montana doesn't have as many NFL records as you might think, either.
But Joe Montana -- and, yes, Ray Guy -- were clutch players who came through when their teams needed them. Guy could punt the ball out of danger and put so much hang time on it that the opposition couldn't create a decent return. He had just three kicks blocked in his entire career and nobody -- nobody -- ever returned one of his punts for a touchdown. In a game where field position matters, even a punter can have a big impact on a game's outcome.
Speaking of big impacts, does anybody remember the Super Bowl where the Oakland beat Washington? Guy leaped into the air and grabbed a high snap -- fully extended and one-handed -- and punted the ball. It looks like nothing on the stat sheet, but before Manning and Tyree it was the best catch in Super Bowl history. That night Guy earned the last of his three Super Bowl rings.
We (normally) start kickers in fantasy football. And while many owners hate the position and treat it with great disdain on draft day, there are kickers in the Hall of Fame. And not just part-timers like Lou Groza and George Blanda. Jan Stenerud was just a regular kicker, and he's in. So why not Ray guy? If the Hall of Fame is supposed to showcase the game's best, why should it ignore an entire position? In the annals of NFL history, somebody who suited up as a team's punter has to be worthy of mention. I think that somebody is Ray Guy.
I know that many people don't think punters (or kickers) should be in the Hall, and others will argue that Guy doesn't qualify even if they did belong. But I think if you go beyond the statistics and look at durability and team value, Guy made his mark on the sport. If he's good enough for the NFL's 75th Anniversity Team, he's good enough for Canton.
Ray Guy was great, but I never saw him do this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut2FA9xGkfY
You can reach Michael Murillo at vivamurillo@gmail.com.
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