R. I. P., Ray Guy...
- Thread starter Maroon Eagle
- Start date
He was a phenomenal punter and all around athlete. If I remember correctly he was always the Raiders Emergency QB
I saw him in person up an Ole Miss-USM game in Oxford. During warm ups he hit one at the goal line, it landed at the 20 on the other end of the field and rolled into the end zone. It would have been a 90+ yard punt in game.
RIP Ray Guy, the best athlete I ever saw by Rick Cleveland
A few excerpts...
You should know that besides being USM’s first consensus Division I All-American as a punter, Guy also shares the school’s pass interception record. He was the team’s emergency quarterback and could throw the ball 80 yards, seemingly with no great effort. Once, when USM was playing Memphis, a Tiger wide receiver ran a pass pattern over the middle. Guy lowered his shoulder and hit the poor fellow just as the ball arrived, breaking up the pass and knocking the receiver out cold. It took several seconds to revive the poor Memphis receiver and then a search ensued in the grass around him. They were looking for the guy’s teeth.
As a punter, he was other-worldly. In 1972, he launched a punt from seven yards deep in his own end zone at then-Hemingway Stadium. Incredibly, the ball sailed far over Ole Mis return man Bill Maloof’s head and eventually rolled into a chain-link fence beyond the opposite end zone. It was almost comical. Maloof took one look at the punt, turned and sped the other way. He couldn’t catch it. The ball traveled about 117 yards total. I also saw him kick a 61-yard field goal during a snowstorm at Utah State.
Once, against Louisiana Tech, Guy punted from his own 40 out of bounds at the Tech 5. But Southern Miss was penalized and had to kick again from the 35. Guy punted again, this time through the end zone. But Southern was penalized again, so Guy punted from the 30. There was no penalty the third time. Guy kicked it out of bounds at the Tech 1.
He was drafted as a pitcher three times by three different Major League Baseball teams. He routinely threw gems for Southern Miss. Ron Polk once told me Guy had the best slider he had ever seen in college baseball. His fastball velocity reached nearly triple digits. And he hit the longest home run I ever saw at the old USM baseball park – not only far over the left center field fence but all the way across West Fourth Street. The ball traveled at least 500 feet. That was back when they used wooden bats.
A few excerpts...
You should know that besides being USM’s first consensus Division I All-American as a punter, Guy also shares the school’s pass interception record. He was the team’s emergency quarterback and could throw the ball 80 yards, seemingly with no great effort. Once, when USM was playing Memphis, a Tiger wide receiver ran a pass pattern over the middle. Guy lowered his shoulder and hit the poor fellow just as the ball arrived, breaking up the pass and knocking the receiver out cold. It took several seconds to revive the poor Memphis receiver and then a search ensued in the grass around him. They were looking for the guy’s teeth.
As a punter, he was other-worldly. In 1972, he launched a punt from seven yards deep in his own end zone at then-Hemingway Stadium. Incredibly, the ball sailed far over Ole Mis return man Bill Maloof’s head and eventually rolled into a chain-link fence beyond the opposite end zone. It was almost comical. Maloof took one look at the punt, turned and sped the other way. He couldn’t catch it. The ball traveled about 117 yards total. I also saw him kick a 61-yard field goal during a snowstorm at Utah State.
Once, against Louisiana Tech, Guy punted from his own 40 out of bounds at the Tech 5. But Southern Miss was penalized and had to kick again from the 35. Guy punted again, this time through the end zone. But Southern was penalized again, so Guy punted from the 30. There was no penalty the third time. Guy kicked it out of bounds at the Tech 1.
He was drafted as a pitcher three times by three different Major League Baseball teams. He routinely threw gems for Southern Miss. Ron Polk once told me Guy had the best slider he had ever seen in college baseball. His fastball velocity reached nearly triple digits. And he hit the longest home run I ever saw at the old USM baseball park – not only far over the left center field fence but all the way across West Fourth Street. The ball traveled at least 500 feet. That was back when they used wooden bats.
We played them in Starkville while I was in school. We got a safety on them and he free punted from their own 20. If I remember correctly we caught the ball at our own 5.
R.I.P. Ray, you were The GOAT punter.
R.I.P. Ray, you were The GOAT punter.
I didn't know or forgot how he excelled at so many athletic positions. Jim Thorpe Esque. Seems I'm reminded everyday how much older I'm getting.
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