Could this be the year that Ray Guy finally makes it into the coveted National Football League Hall of Fame?
Guy, who is considered by thousands of football fans and former players and coaches to be the greatest punter to ever play the game, is among 17 finalists to be considered for election.
"If it happens, it's great and if it doesn't, life will still go on," said Guy during a recent interview with The McDuffie Mirror when he hosted a football camp at Thomson High School.
Guy, and the rest of the football world, will know if he's elected on Saturday, Feb. 2 - the day of the final vote to select seven former NFL greats into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The selection comes just one day before Super Bowl XLII.
Guy, who played and graduated from Thomson High School back in the late 1960s and went on to play college football at the University of Southern Mississippi, said a few weeks ago that he can't understand why punting isn't recognized as a position.
"I just don't understand that - I never have," Guy said. "If you're not going to recognize it, then why have it?"
Following his college career, Guy was drafted in the first round by the Oakland Raiders as a punter - making him the first and only player to have ever been selected that high in the NFL draft by a professional football team.
Guy became famous for high, lofty kicks - none of which were ever returned for a touchdown during his 14 year career.
