First punter in NFL HoF: Ray Guy

[Eddie Teach]

Lots of middling qbs make bigger contributions than all-star linemen by that type of analysis. It's bunk.

[Sophie Scholl]

Okay serious response. About fucking time Ray Guy gets in.

BA, do Issac Bruce and T.O. deserve to be in HoF?
Cause seems to me they have pretty similar career numbers in receptions and TD's to TB

I would say quite possibly to both.  They were dominant in their primes and quite impressive throughout their careers as a whole. 

I really don't think AR understands punting.  AR, you do realize there is a lot more to it than solely net yardage on punts, right?  Pinning teams inside the  20 or closer, leaving lots of hangtime to ensure your coverage team smothers any chance of a return, making your kicks incredibly difficult to field to increase the potential for turnovers, and more.  Would you say Carson Palmer was the 8th best QB this past season because he had the 8th most yards?  It's an incredibly narrow way to look at any position, and I would have expected more from you.

[alfred russel]

Lots of middling qbs make bigger contributions than all-star linemen by that type of analysis. It's bunk.

A true middling QB makes 0 contribution by that type of analysis.

In the NFL Hall of Fame, QBs are disproportionately represented over linemen. Check out the draft if you are interested in the value the league puts on linemen vs. punters.

But maybe I came on a bit strong last night. I don't think punters should be included, but I don't really care that much. He can take his rightful place in the Hall along with Fireman Ed.

[alfred russel]

I really don't think AR understands punting.  AR, you do realize there is a lot more to it than solely net yardage on punts, right?  Pinning teams inside the  20 or closer, leaving lots of hangtime to ensure your coverage team smothers any chance of a return, making your kicks incredibly difficult to field to increase the potential for turnovers, and more.  Would you say Carson Palmer was the 8th best QB this past season because he had the 8th most yards?  It's an incredibly narrow way to look at any position, and I would have expected more from you.

I'm not old enough to have seen Ray Guy's career. I looked up numbers on pro football reference and wikipedia. Pro football reference only had gross punting yards, wikipedia said his net was 33.8.

33.8 yards net doesn't seem extraordinary. Ray Guy averaged 42.4 yards gross, I'm guessing the league average was 2 or 3 yards less, so if his hangtime was really so remarkably effective it didn't seem to be showing up in the net punting numbers. But I couldn't find the net punting stats for the rest of the league, so I don't know. Maybe net punting averages were around 25 yards back then, though I sort of doubt it.

Regardless of how great a punter he was, I doubt he would be in the Hall of Fame if 1) he didn't play on a super prominent team, and 2) he didn't get the college punting award named after him (which could have been related to 1). But then that is probably just the nature of the beast with hall of fame voting.