FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Dookie: Here We Go Steelers said 02/07, 03:45 PM
The most under-appreciated position in the game gets even more underappreciated by you.

For those who don't know about Ray Guy, here are the facts:

Ray Guy played 14 years
he won 3 rings and made 7 pro-bowls
he averaged 42.4 yards per punt and even more amazingly, not 1 of his 1,049 punts were ever returtned for a touchdown.
he was one of the last to place his kicks unlike the punters of today who simply "blast away"
he was named the punter on the NFL's 75th anniversary team
he is already enshrined in the College Football HOF and the National HS football HOF
They named the "nation's best collegiate punter" award after Guy

Now why all the Ray Guy stats?

Because he will be in the Hall of Fame soon. While he didn't make it on this ballot, he still was a finalist. Look for Guy to make it into the hall in the next couple years.

There is only one pure kicker in the Hall - Jan Stenerud.

Stover is not a lock for the hall, and in recent years Vinatieri has not been as clutch so his status isn't as "lock" anymore.

Either way...Ray Guy will get in before another kicker

Dookie: Here We Go Steelers said 02/07, 07:30 PM
Stenerud shouldn't be in there first of all, and Guy deserves to be there.

Since you didn't make much of an argument for why kickers deserve it more, I'd also like to point out other punters who might make it into the hall...

What about Jeff Feagles? He's played 19 years, finally got his Super Bowl ring this year (same amount as Stover who you like to call a "lock"), he's played in a league-record 320 consecutive games, is the alltime leader in punts, punting yards, and punts inside the 20.

Punters are crucial to the game of football, and having a great punter could change the field position battle around for you team which could mean wonders when the game is on the line.

Yes, Punting isn't sexy and is rather boring, but they have a huge role in the game and have a huge impact on the game whether you like it or not.

Your Hall of Fame "locks" were 20th (stover-84%) and 28th (Viniatieri-79%) in Percentage made and 10th (stover 27) and 21st (Vinatieri-23) in field goals made...don't seem like Hall of Fame worthy numbers to me

The best kickers vary so much year to year so it's hard to establish yourself as one of the leagues best ever...so its harder to make Hall

Dookie: Here We Go Steelers said 02/08, 01:20 PM
Guy has had 17 years of eligibility and he was a finalist this year. Stenerud shouldn't be in there if Guy isn't was all I was saying. Stenerud is 8th all time in Field Goals made and 9th all time in points scored.

Do you know why I say kickers aren't as important as punters? Mike Vanderjagt is currently second all time in FG% at 86.466%. Who did he play for this year? That's right, not one team wanted the services of the second most accurate kicker EVER. Kickers come and go, and they can be gotten for cheap. Is that really the respect you are talking about?

"kickers are far more respected than punters, hence, kickers get into the hall easier than punters do and there will be more in the HOF,easily, than punters."
-well i disagree-and so does Peyton Manning (Vanderjagt-"idiot kicker")
-How can you say its easier for kickers to get into the hall than it is for punters? ONE, yes ONE true kicker has made it into the HOF while Guy was just a finalist this year, so it won't be long before that number is matched. The only reason you think kickers are "more respected" is because you can measure their success by points score. While punters do not score they contribute more