Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Seven-time Pro Bowl player hopes Canton won't do same to him

By DANIEL BROWN
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

last updated: December 26, 2007 03:00:53 AM

SAN JOSE -- Ray Guy was once suspected of using a banned substance. So dastardly were his punts, so staggering was the hang time, that an opposing coach figured the Raiders' punter was getting help from the needle -- and injecting helium into the ball.

Houston Oilers Coach Bum Phillips, the accuser, even snatched a ball away for evidence and had it whisked off for testing at Rice University.

The result? Scientists concluded that there was no helium.

It was Phillips who was full of hot air.

"If you see Bum Phillips, tell him to send my ball back," Guy says now, still laughing.

The ball would certainly fit well in the display case if Guy ever earns a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. His enshrinement remains elusive, although Guy is again expected to be among the 15 finalists when the short list is announced in January.

Until then, Guy is decking plenty of halls elsewhere. He is already in the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, the College Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

And, earlier this month, he was voted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. Guy will be enshrined April 21.

His induction class includes former 49ers running back Roger Craig, former USF center/linebacker Burl Toler and record-breaking swimmer Rick DeMont (a San Rafael native).

Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former 49ers owner, will also be honored under the new "Distinguished Achievement" category.

"I'm elated," Guy, 58, said by phone from Mississippi. "They sent me a list of all the past inductees, and it was a very classy list. I'm grateful."

After all those induction speeches, can Canton be next? Even without a bronze statue, Guy is regarded as the gold standard for his position.

He made seven Pro Bowls. He won three Super Bowl rings. He averaged 42.4 yards per punt. None of his 1,059 career punts was returned for a touchdown.

That last stat is hardly an accident. Guy not only kicked long, he also kicked with precision. He had a knack for leaving return men such as Rick Upchurch and Billy "White Shoes" Johnson -- the Devin Hesters of their day -- with nowhere to run.

"One of the greatest honors was having the opposing offense come on the field muttering at you for their field position," said Guy, proudly recalling how much he could annoy San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts.

Guy also popularized the concept of hang time. It was the sheer height of his punts that had so flustered Phillips during the Oilers' playoff game at Oakland in 1980. Guy averaged 51.1 yards on his nine punts that day, and their cloud-scraping flight defused Johnson's potent return game.

But Phillips shouldn't have been surprised. Four years earlier, at the 1976 Pro Bowl, the punter carved his legend at the Superdome in New Orleans.

At some point during the huddle, Guy peeked up at the video scoreboard hovering high above midfield. Guy said nothing to his teammates. But head referee Jim Tunney caught Guy glancing skyward.

"You're going to try it, aren't you?" Tunney said.

Yep. And in doing so, Guy became the first punter ever to hit the Superdome video screen.

"To this day, that's the thing I get asked about most," said Guy, who retired after the '86 season. "More than the Super Bowls, more than the Pro Bowls, more than anything I did in football. People want to talk about the time I hit the scoreboard at the Superdome."

Guy said he never would have attempted such a silly stunt during a regular-season game. To the contrary, he made sure there wasn't a repeat when the Raiders returned to New Orleans for Super Bowl XV -- a few weeks after beating Phillips' Oilers.

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