The Story And Significance Of Ray Guy - First Punter Selected In The First Round And First To Be Inducted In The Hall Of Fame

William Ray Guy was an American professional football punter who played for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League. Guy was a first-team All-American selection in 1972 as a senior for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, and is the only pure punter ever to be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, when the Raiders selected him with the 23rd overall pick in the 1973 NFL draft. He won three Super Bowls with the Raiders. Guy was elected to both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014. An eight-time All-Pro, Guy is widely considered to be the greatest punter of all time.

With his induction to the Hall of Fame on August 2, 2014, he became the first pure punter to be so honored.

Guy was the first kicker to be selected in the first round in the NFL draft, when the Oakland Raiders selected him with the 23rd overall pick of the 1973 draft.

In his career as a punter, Guy played his entire career with the Raiders and was selected to seven Pro Bowl teams, including six in a row from 1973 to 1978. He was named as the punter on the NFL's 75th and 100th anniversary teams. His trademark was kicking punts that stayed in the air for long periods of time. His punts frequently left opposing offenses pinned deep in their end of the field; by the time opposing punt returners fielded a Guy punt, the Raiders had the field covered so well that a return was impossible. Pro Football Hall of Fame historian Joe Horrigan once said of Guy, "He's the first punter you could look at and say: 'He won games.'"

In Super Bowl XVIII, Guy punted seven times for 299 yards (42.7 average), with 244 net yards (34.8 average). Five of his punts pinned the Washington Redskins inside their own 20. Due in part to his effective punting, the Los Angeles Raiders easily won the game, 38–9.

After a 1977 game against Houston, Oilers coach Bum Phillips accused Guy of using footballs illegally inflated with helium. Houston returner Billy Johnson stated that he had "never seen anyone hang kickoffs like Guy did", and that the ball was "hanging up there too long". Additionally, the Raiders had used a new ball for every punt, adding to the Oilers' suspicions. Phillips said after the game that he would send the ball to Rice University for testing. Guy punted three times for 107 yards in the game, significantly less than his career average.

In 2000, the Greater Augusta Sports Council instituted the Ray Guy Award, to be awarded to the nation's best collegiate punter.

In 2005, Guy helped organize and participated in two-day kicking camps, held throughout the United States, for high school punters, placekickers, and long snappers.

Guy was married to Beverly Guy. The couple had two children, Ryan and Amber.

In 2011, Guy filed for bankruptcy and auctioned his three Super Bowl rings to help pay his debts. The auction of the rings brought in $96,216, exceeding the upper estimate of $90,000.

After a lengthy illness, Guy died on November 3, 2022, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, at age 72. The cause was advanced-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

During his career, Guy was also the Raiders' emergency quarterback. He also handled kickoffs in the first five years of his career.

In his 14-year career. Ray Guy played in 207 consecutive games. Punted 1,049 times for 44,493 yards, averaging 42.4 yards per punt, with a 33.8 net yards average. Had 210 punts inside the 20-yard line (not counting his first 3 seasons, when the NFL did not keep track of this stat), with just 128 touchbacks. Led the NFL in gross yards per punt three times. Had a streak of 619 consecutive punts before having one blocked. Has a record of 111 career punts in postseason games.

Guy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2014 on August 2, 2014. For many years before his induction, he was considered one of the most worthy players who had not yet been selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the first punter enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and as of 2024, is still the only player at his position in the Hall. In his enshrinement speech, he proudly proclaimed, "Now the Hall of Fame has a complete team."

Guy was inducted into both the Mississippi and Georgia Sports Halls of Fame, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, the National High School Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame.

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The Story And Significance Of Derrick Brooks - Second Most Pro Bowls By A Linebacker In NFL History

Derrick Dewan Brooks is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for his entire 14-year career in the National Football League with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brooks played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning consensus All-American honors twice. He was selected by the Buccaneers in the first round of the 1995 NFL draft. An 11-time Pro Bowl selection and five-time first-team All-Pro, Brooks was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002 en route to winning the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXVII. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016.

Following his retirement, Brooks served as co-owner and president of the Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2011 to 2017. In 2025, he became the chief operating officer for the South Florida Bulls athletics program.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Brooks in the first round (28th overall) of the 1995 NFL draft. The Buccaneers traded both of their second-round picks (46th overall and 63rd overall) to the Dallas Cowboys for their first-round pick (28th overall) and used the pick to draft Brooks. Brooks was the second linebacker drafted in 1995 NFL Draft, behind Washington State's Mark Fields (13th overall).

Brooks played 14 years for the Buccaneers and is widely considered one of the best players in franchise history and one of the best linebackers in NFL history. From 1995 to 2008, Brooks started 221 of 224 games, recording 1,698 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 25 interceptions, and six touchdowns (tied for the most in NFL history by a linebacker with Bobby Bell). He was selected to the Pro Bowl 11 times, including 10 straight from 1997 to 2006, was an All-Pro nine times, was the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2002, and led the team to the franchise's first Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XXXVII.

As a rookie in 1995, Brooks started 13 of 16 games. He finished the season with 78 tackles with a sack and earned first-team all-rookie honors from Pro Football Weekly and Pro Football Writers Association. During his second season 1996, he started all 16 games and finished with a team-leading 132 tackles and his first career interception. In 1997, Brooks earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl after recording 144 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and two interceptions in 16 games. In 1998, Brooks had another Pro Bowl season after recording 156 tackles and an interception.

In 1999, Brooks made the Pro Bowl for the third time and was a first-team All-Pro selection for the first time in his career. For the season, he had 153 tackles, two sacks, and four interceptions. In 2000, Brooks earned his fourth consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl and his second consecutive first-team All-Pro selection. He finished the season with 140 tackles, a sack, and had his first career touchdown on a 34-yard interception from Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Brooks was also, along with Jim Flanigan of the Chicago Bears, the winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, given to a National Football League player for his community service activities as well as his excellence on the field. Brooks made his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl in 2001 after recording 112 tackles and three interceptions.

Brooks' best season came in 2002. During that year he was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press and helped the Buccaneers win the franchise's first Super Bowl. He also made his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro selection for the third time. For the season he had 117 tackles, a sack, five interceptions, and returned an NFL record, for a linebacker, four touchdowns (one off a fumble and three off interceptions). During the Buccaneers 48–21 victory over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, he returned an interception off of Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon 44 yards for the clinching touchdown.

In 2003, Brooks broke Lee Roy Selmon's team record for most consecutive Pro Bowl appearances with seven. He finished the season with 101 tackles, a sack, two interceptions, and returned an interception for a touchdown. In 2004, Brooks made his eighth consecutive Pro Bowl and fifth- first-team All-Pro selection after recording 137 tackles, three sacks, and an interception. In 2005, Brooks made his ninth consecutive Pro Bowl and earned his sixth first-team All-Pro selection. He finished the season with 125 tackles, three sacks, and an interception.

In Brooks' 10th consecutive Pro Bowl in 2006, he was named the MVP after returning a Trent Green interception 59 yards for a touchdown to secure the victory for the NFC. During the regular season he had 121 tackles, three interceptions and a touchdown. In 2007, Brooks had 109 tackles and was not voted to the Pro Bowl for the first time since 1996. In Brooks' last year with the Buccaneers in 2008, he recorded 73 tackles and an interception and was selected to his 11th Pro Bowl. The 11 Pro Bowls are tied for second-most by a linebacker in NFL history.

On February 25, 2009, the Buccaneers released Brooks. He was one of five veterans that the Bucs released on that day. The others were wide receivers Joey Galloway and Ike Hilliard, running back Warrick Dunn and linebacker Cato June. The Bucs had previously fired Head Coach Jon Gruden and General Manager Bruce Allen and were looking to build a younger team under the likes of Raheem Morris and Mark Dominik. Brooks never missed a game in his 14 years in Tampa Bay, a total of 224 consecutive games. He was the starting weakside linebacker for the last 208 of those games, an NFL record for that position and the second-longest consecutive start streak for any linebacker in NFL history.

After spending all of the 2009 season as a free agent, Brooks officially announced his retirement on August 11, 2010.

On January 10, 2014, Brooks was named among the 15 modern-era Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists. Former Buccaneers safety John Lynch (who was Brooks' teammate from 1995 to 2003) and former Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy (who coached Brooks from 1996 to 2001) were also finalists. On February 1, Brooks was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He is the third Hall of Famer to have earned his credentials primarily as a Buc, the others being Lee Roy Selmon and Warren Sapp (Brooks' teammate from 1995 to 2003).

Brooks previously was a football analyst for ESPN and co-host of The Red Zone on Sirius NFL Radio and as an analyst on ESPN First Take.

In 2011, Brooks became a part owner and the team president for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League. The team folded in December 2017.

Derrick Brooks, with Anquan Boldin

Since 2014, Brooks has served as a jointly-appointed appeals officer for the NFL and NFL Players Association, charged with reviewing discipline for in-game misconduct.

On October 30, 2025, the South Florida Bulls announced Brooks' appointment as chief operating officer for the school's athletic program.

Brooks is married and has four children. Brooks is a Christian.

Brooks is the founder of Derrick Brooks Charities. He has taken local youth across the nation and South Africa with the objective of presenting a first-hand experience, or a "mobile classroom," this group is known as the Brooks Bunch. Brooks also headed the founding of the Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa with fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame member Edward J. DeBartolo Jr.

Brooks is well known for his charity work and his advocacy of the importance of education. He was the co-recipient of the 2000 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and was named to the Florida State University Board of Trustees in 2003 by Governor Jeb Bush.

Sources:
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Who Were The American Football Union?

The American Football Union (AFU) was a coalition of amateur, semi-professional, and collegiate club football teams that operated from 1886 to 1895 in the New York metropolitan area. Although the minor league was practically inconsequential and obscure in the development of professional American football, the Orange Athletic Club, who participated in the league from 1888 to 1895, would go on to become the Orange and Newark Tornadoes, and join the NFL for two seasons in 1929 and 1930.

On January 6, 1886, representatives from several different athletic institutions across the New York metropolitan area met at 23 Dey Street in Manhattan to discuss the plausibility of a new athletic association for the sport of football. These institutions were the Staten Island, New-Brighton, Cutler, Stevens Institute, Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn Hill, Crescent, and Victoria football clubs. The delegates of these eight athletic clubs eventually voted to form the association known as "The American Football Union". An election was held, and C. M. Smith of the Staten Island Cricket Club was chosen as the first AFU president. William Denman won secretary, and William H. Ford, E. P. Moorton, and R. M. Ormiston were appointed to the Executive Committee.

The second meeting for the fledging football association was held at 3:00 p.m. on the following Wednesday at the same site, and was focused on laying down a series of rules for the league to adopt. A committee composed of R.M Ormiston, H. C. Staniland, and H. Waldo Jr., who were the captains of the Polytechnic, Victoria, and New-Brighton athletic clubs respectively, were chosen to draft the new rules for the union. Other developments of note were arrangements for a schedule of conference matchups for the upcoming football season, as well as a trophy for whichever club won the most in-league games. A new rule was established that if any club failed to make an appearance within half an hour of their scheduled contest, they would have to forfeit the contest to the opposing team. The Brooklyn Hills and Cutler's school delegates were absent, and the Stevens Institute sent in a letter of resignation from the Union.

The AFU's first fall meeting was held on September 31 at No.243 Broadway Street, and welcomed representatives from the five institutions who confirmed their teams for the 1886 season. They were the Unions of Columbia College, Brooklyn Hill Football Club, Cutler School, the Spartan Harriers, and the Staten Island Football Club. The Staten Island Football Club was a consolidation of three clubs on Staten Island, the Athletic, Cricket, and Rowing associations, as well as the Clifton Athletic Club. William Halsey of the Brooklyn Hills was appointed the new secretary of the AFU, and the annual dues for membership were set at $10 (roughly $275 in 2020).

Although the first contest between two members of the AFU occurred on October 10, the first AFU sanctioned football game took place on October 16 with the Brooklyn Hills Football Club against the "Crickets of Stevens" (Stevens Institute Secondary team) at 3:30 p.m. on St. George's Cricket grounds in Hoboken, New Jersey. The Crickets won 8–6, but disputed calls by the referee resulted in the contest coming under review of the AFU Executive Committee.

For the 1886 season, the plan was for each of the representative teams to play each other twice, and whoever recorded the most wins would be given the Union pennant as champion of the league. However, much turmoil persisted around membership in the early AFU that strained this requirement. The Polytechnic Institute attended the first two meetings of the AFU but opted out of league-play because of an apparent lack of strength in their team. The New York Athletic Club was in negotiations with the Executive Committee but never committed to the $10 fee, and the Nassau Athletic Club applied for the Union and was denied. Although the Crescent Athletic Club was a founding member of the Union, they would not be considered a member for the 1886 season. The reason for this is unknown, but there was some speculation that the Athletic Club was too strong for the new organization, with the team composed of many Yale Alumni. On October 19 it was reported that the Spartan Harriers were withdrawing from the AFU effective immediately, and the Polytechnic Institute was to pick up the Harriers' schedule. It's unclear, but unlikely, that the Institute followed this request. The Cutlers, who had not played a single team in the AFU all season, resigned on October 24, with Brooklyn Hills appointed to play their remaining opponent, the Staten Island Football Club. The Hills would tie the club team 0–0 on November 13, Three days later, Brooklyn Hills would hold a club meeting and resign from the organization as well, citing an inability to complete their present schedule and frustration over having too many Saturday's without a conference matchup. By the end of the season, the AFU was composed of only three teams, the Crickets of the Stevens Institute, the Unions of Columbia College, and the Staten Island Football Club. A year later, this resignation would be blamed on an "unfair decision in a disputed game", which would allude to either their November 6 forfeit win or disputed loss to the Crickets on October 16.

At the first meeting of the new year, held in the office of AFU president Clarence Smith, the Crickets of Stevens Institute were officially and unanimously awarded the championship pennant for the 1886 season. The Crickets had compiled a 3–0 record in official league contests, and outscored their opponents by a total of 35 to 22. F. S. Sevenoak of the Crickets Club was elected as the new secretary and treasurer of the league after the resignation of William Halsey of the Brooklyn Football Club.

The Crescent Athletic Club was officially admitted to the AFU as a full member in April of the 1887 season. They would become the most dominant team in the Union over the next five seasons. A team was also formed by the Staten Island Cricket and Baseball Club, after spending a year consolidated in the Staten Island Football Club (and any players that were in the football club were then amalgamated in the cricket club). The last addition for the season was the New York Athletic Club, which entered the league to replace the Crickets of Stevens, who may have combined with the Unions of Columbia in mid-October. The Unions would last for a month before folding themselves, with some sources claiming that the team did so because of their abysmal league record. At a meeting on November 21, the AFU officially recognized the Crickets resignation from the league, but stated that the Unions of Columbia College's resignation was still "laid out on the table".

With a 6–0 record, and having not allowed a single point against them in AFU competition, the Crescent Athletic Club was officially awarded the championship pennant and the title of "Metropolitan champion" (in relation to the New York metropolitan area). The meeting for the ceremony was held at No 243 Broadway, in the office of Union President Clarence Smith, and was attended by representatives from the Crescent Athletic Club and Staten Island Cricket Club. The AFU was adjourned until Friday, March 7. It's unclear if there was one championship pennant that changed hands every time a new champion was crowned, or if the AFU had a new championship pennant for each season of competition.

At the first meeting of the 1888 season, held March 29 in the office of William H. Ford at No. 51 Liberty Street, a new league constitution was adopted to replace the one drafted at the second AFU meeting in 1887. The new constitution would not be as "loosely constructed" as its predecessor, and barred a common practice in the league of football players shifting from one athletic club to the next throughout the season to receive more game time. Captains of participating athletic clubs were also required to present a list of all of their players for the season. Representatives were present from the New York, Crescent, and Staten Island athletic clubs. An application for admission by the recently established Orange Athletic Club was tabled until the next meeting, held on 23 May.

With the Orange Athletic Club membership granted in May, the AFU was up to four members, and for the first time all members would stay in the Union for the entire season. On October 10 a list was released detailing the 1888 AFU schedule, a practice that had existed since 1887 but was not published in any public newspapers until then.

Crescent Athletic Club won the 1888 championship with a record identical to the 1887 season (6–0), and defeated the Orange Athletic Club in the AFU de facto championship on Thanksgiving to claim the pennant (which by now may have been called the Eagle Cup)

At its annual first meeting of the 1889 season, held at No. 241 Broadway, four institutions were represented, and were the same from the previous year. With President Clarence Smith away at Saratoga, vice-president William Ford would preside over the meeting, and at the AFU's annual election, he was named the new president of the Union. T. O. Spear of the Staten Island Athletic Club was elected the new vice-president, and C. T. Schlessinger of the New York athletic club was appointed to secretary and treasurer. The Union also decided to adopt the rules of the Intercollegiate Football Association, which at that time was the leading rule-making association and governing body of early football. The Flushing and Manhattan athletic clubs submitted applications for the union, but were denied on the grounds that the present members had already formed and did not need additional associations. Fifty dollars was put aside for the purchase of the season's championship pennant. Lastly, a full schedule for the season was adopted, with each athletic club playing each other twice, and each series taking place at either team's home fields.

On November 2, just before the start of the 2nd half of the AFU's conference schedule, the Staten Island Athletic Club decided to withdraw from the Union, on the grounds that the men who played were businessmen and could not find time to conduct their business and practice football at the same time. This would throw the schedule into disarray, as the Staten Island team left each of the remaining members without a game. Two options presented to fill the schedule were to completely revise it to reflect the current members or to accept the applications of the Flushing or Manhattan athletic club.

The Crescent Athletic Club repeated as Union champions for the third consecutive season, and did not allow a single point against a current AFU member for the second time in three years. The Crescent's AFU record was 6–0 (7–1 overall, with an 18–0 loss to Yale), and outscored their union opponents by a total of 196 to 0.

In the annual first meeting of the AFU, four congregations represented the league, including the Staten Island Athletic Club that had resigned the year prior. Unfortunately, the Staten Island team soon re-resigned, leaving only the New York, Crescent, and Orange Athletic Clubs. Manhattan Athletic Club applied for the Union, and were finally accepted, but were not allowed to compete in the league until the next season.

On November 8, the Crescent and Orange Athletic Clubs met at the Orange Oval in East Orange, NJ. The Crescents entered the game with a 17–0 record against AFU members since joining the Union for the 1887 season. They had also outscored their league opponents by a total of 422 to 9, and pitched fourteen shutouts. All streaks were broken when the Oranges successfully upset the three-time reigning AFU champion, 8 to 5.

In the championship game on December 7, a rematch of the Orange and Crescent Athletic Clubs was played. Due to new league rules, the regular season games would not play a part in the decision of AFU champion, meaning that even though the Oranges had already secured a win over the Crescents it was meaningless in relation to the championship game. The Crescent Athletic Club shut out the Orange 14 to 0 at Washington Park in Brooklyn, and secured their fourth consecutive AFU championship pennant.

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