Ray guy HOF

[SteelersPride]

here come the punters!!

 

[Midnightangel]

I can't really argue with this one. Punters ARE part of the game. A great one can pin the opposition deep on their own goal line and make up for an offense that didn't move the ball past mid field. Coffin corner kicking is an art in and of itself. There's a huge difference between your opponent getting the ball at the 1 and on the 20.

 

[SteelersPride]

hey theres very few great ones

 

[cwood]

Thank God. Kicker and punter are both positions on every football team and if you are one of the best ever at your position you deserve to get into the HOF. Having zero punters in the HOF was a complete joke and I hope this leads to others being recognized.

 

[gohusk]

Crazy that he had over 1000 punts and not a single one was returned for a TD.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Ray Guy was nothing short of awesome as a punter. Nobody IMO will object to him being in the HOF.

 

[JDM]

This is long overdue.

But no other punter(or primarily return specialist, for that matter) should ever even be considered.

 

[cwood]

This is long overdue.

But no other punter(or primarily return specialist, for that matter) should ever even be considered.

Because those positions don't impact games? Punter and kicker especially are two positions on football teams that are specialized and necessary. If the positions aren't important to the game they should just be done away with. Unless that happens, the historic best at those positions NEED to be honored in the HOF. It's ridiculous to pretend the positions don't exist.

 

[JDM]

A very few kickers may be hall of fame worthy. No punter ever will be again.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

A very few kickers may be hall of fame worthy. No punter ever will be again.

Ever? JDM you really need to stop using absolutes like that. I get what your saying, but the next Ray Guy could happen any time, saying it will never ever happen again is foolish.

 

[JDM]

Ray guy changed the game, though. The difference now between an elite punter and an average one is not going to affect many games. A bad one will, most definitely, but there's not a huge amount of drop off in the top half or so, and the coverage team makes a bigger impact in net gain than the punter does in most circumstances.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Typically a punter isn't going to impact a game like Guy did, but to say that there well never be another that could do what Guy did is going overboard and smacks of hyperbole.

 

[Tacoma_canuck]

It's probably doubtful that this will open some floodgates for punters and honestly, I can't see there being another one like Ray Guy. I won't say ever though because you just never can tell. Guy was very rare in that we would actually keep glued to our TV's and not go to the fridge for a drink when he kicked. He was that special.

 

[RoboticDreams]

He's the greatest ever to do it. I'm glad he finally made it in.

 

[Wazmankg]

Ray guy changed the game, though. The difference now between an elite punter and an average one is not going to affect many games. A bad one will, most definitely, but there's not a huge amount of drop off in the top half or so, and the coverage team makes a bigger impact in net gain than the punter does in most circumstances.

He didn't change the game. He was just very, very good. Jan Stenrud changed the game, even though the Gogolak brothers came first, and that's primarily why he's the only pure FG kicker in. This one sort of surprises me. It's a veteran's committee selection right ? Meh, why not I guess.