NEW YORK — The hang time is over for Ray Guy. The longtime punter for the Oakland Raiders is all by himself once again.
After waiting 23 years, Guy is the first punter elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“Good things are worth waiting for,” Guy said Saturday night after being elected along with six other players. “It’s just a matter of time when it will show up. And I knew it would, sooner or later. It had to, whether it was me or somebody down the road. But sooner or later, it had to show up, because that is a part of a football game.”
The class of 2014 also included defensive end Michael Strahan, receiver Andre Reed, defensive back Aeneas Williams and defensive end Claude Humphrey, who like Guy was a senior selection. Two first-time eligible players, linebacker Derrick Brooks and offensive tackle Walter Jones, were selected.
The announcement was made at the NFL Honors award show, less than 24 hours before the Denver Broncos meet the Seattle Seahawks in the first Super Bowl in a non-domed stadium in a cold-weather city.
Among the finalists who didn’t get in were two with ties to the Indianapolis Colts and current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning – coach Tony Dungy and receiver Marvin Harrison.
Each of the incoming Hall of Famers walked to the stage and was announced individually. Strahan, who helped the Giants make two Super Bowls, got a big cheer from the home crowd.
Induction will be on Aug. 1 in Canton, Ohio.
Guy turned the punting job into a defensive weapon after he became the first player at his position to be selected in the first round of the draft in 1973. He made “hang time” part of the football vernacular while playing all of his 207 games in 14 seasons with the Raiders.
The Southern Mississippi product averaged 42.4 yards, falling under the 40-yard bar only during the strike-shortened 1982 season. Only three of his 1,049 punts were blocked, and he set an NFL record with 619 in a row without a block. He had 209 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, including 77 in his final three seasons.
“It’s gratifying to now see a punter go into the Hall of Fame,” Guy said. “Whether it was me or somebody else, they needed representation in that position.”
Brooks was the cornerstone of a Bucs defense that led the league in 2002 and `05, and the NFC five times. He was The Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year when Tampa Bay won its only Super Bowl after the 2002 season.
The linebacker never missed a game in his 14 seasons and averaged a remarkable 146 tackles. Six of his 25 interceptions were returned for touchdowns, including a league-record three in `02. He holds Tampa Bay records for tackles in a game (23), defensive TDs in a season (four), career starts and games, and tackles (2,196).
Seattle certainly got a winner when it moved up to the No. 6 spot in the 1997 draft to take Jones. He immediately provided blindside protection for Warren Moon and quickly became the first Seahawks lineman to earn a Pro Bowl spot. He was one of the chief road graders who helped Shaun Alexander rush for 266 yards in a 2001 game – the fourth-highest total in NFL history – and then rush for a team-record 1,880 yards and 28 TDs in his MVP season in 2005.
Strahan set the NFL record for sacks in a single season, getting 22 in 2001. The one most people remember is the record-setter in the final game of the regular season, when Green Bay’s Brett Favre seemed to lay down on a play late in the game.
While there is controversy about that play, the gap-toothed Strahan was one of the top two-way defensive ends. Younger teammates said he taught them how to work to become NFL players, and he walked away from the NFL after winning the Super Bowl in February 2008.
“It’s hard to find guys with everything, but this guy had everything . size, speed, power, toughness, endurance, motor, smarts, leadership, heart, love for the game, but what I admired most about Michael was his pride,” Giants general Jerry Reese said. “No matter what the circumstances were, when he walked out on that field on Sunday, he was going to give it ALL to you. There aren’t many guys who can say that.”
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