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Sports

Punters deserve spot in Canton

Silent Assassin

Ronnie Turner

On Saturday, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Board of Selectors will meet in Detroit on the eve of the Super Bowl to select the 2006 Hall of Fame inductees from among a class of 15 finalists. While it’s almost certain guys like Troy Aikman, Warren Moon, Michael Irvin, Reggie White and Thurman Thomas will get in, for another year there will be one position yet to be accounted for.

I’m sure many of you don’t want to hear this, but there are no punters currently in the Hall and none on this year’s ballot, and frankly, it’s wrong. Punters are as much a part of football as quarterbacks and linebackers, and the truly great ones deserve to be included among the game’s finest players. 

This topic was brought to my mind after watching ESPN’s Outside The Lines late Wednesday night, which featured a forum on punters and their legitimacy as Hall of Fame candidates. Host Bob Ley’s two guests for the show were Hall of Famers Carl Eller and Paul Krause, two players who made their mark on defense with the Minnesota Vikings in the 1960s and 1970s. When asked about whether punters should be allowed into the Hall of Fame, Eller and Krause blatantly said no. As a matter of fact, they almost made it seem as if punters weren’t even football players. 

Their view was punters shouldn’t be allowed into the Hall because they’re not involved in every play and don’t know what it feels like to hit or get hit. And just when you thought the stupidity had ended, the two went on to rant about how punters’ stats, such as games played, should be kept in a separate category and how almost anyone could punt; they even went so far as to say they could have done it. That just goes to show you that it doesn’t take a genius to be a Hall of Famer. 

This same sort of issue has come up already in baseball, with analysts debating closers’ and designated hitters’ legitimacy for the Hall of Fame. Those players were just as much a part of baseball as other pitchers and batters, and they should be allowed in. 

The same applies to punters. Punting is a special skill that requires a lot of hard work and dedication, and games are won and lost because of it. Football is a game of field position, and teams that are able to control this usually are the ones that have the best punters. The ability of punters to pin opponents deep in their own territory and put them in a position to work for points or give the ball back to their team with excellent field position is perhaps the greatest skill in football. 

When it all boils down to it, Ray Guy should someday have his bust placed in Canton, Ohio, as a punter. The resume may not be that convincing, but it’s still significant: 1,049 punts for 44,493 yards (42.4 yard average), 210 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, 206 consecutive games played, seven AFC Pro Bowl selections and named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary team in 1994 ­ all after a 14-year career with the Oakland Raiders. 

Guy remains the only punter ever drafted in the first round, and those who saw him acknowledge him as one of the greatest punters ever. In 1994, he became the first pure punter to be placed on the Hall of Fame ballot, but he won’t be among this year’s finalists.

The Hall should do right by pro football and open up its doors to punters, and Guy should be the first inside.

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