It’s no secret that kickers and punters have always been treated like second class citizens in the NFL. If kickers were considered scum then punters were considered amoeba who suck on scum. They don’t even let the punters introduce themselves at the beginning of games where they show the little head and the player says what college they went to. Yet after 23 years of battling ignorance by the NFL Hall of Fame voting committee, Ray Guy finally became the first punter ever inducted into the shrine of the National Football League’s greatest players. Now thanks to him, kids who grow up feeling confused about what position to play can know that if they do end up a punter there’s nothing wrong with that. If they find they’re more suited to punting the ball for some biological reason, they can pursue that and know that if they work hard and get to the NFL and have a great career they won’t be facing as much ignorance and hatred as there used to be. Ray Guy had the courage to bear that load to fight through and persevere against hatred and indifference and for his efforts he was finally rewarded with equal treatment. It’s sad that in today’s world, punters are still looked down on and seen as strange or out of place. Before Ray Guy came along, if your son said he wanted to be a punter you might have tried to convert him into a kicker or a soccer player. Those days may now be history thanks to the huge victory for punter’s rights made by Mr. Guy. It might not seem like a huge deal to people who don’t have a punter in their life, but if you know a punter or your son is a punter, or you’re a punter and have been hiding it from people... Maybe now you have the confidence to say “Yes I am a punter and one day I too can be in the Hall of Fame alongside the great punter’s rights pioneer Ray Guy.”
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| Maybe one day punters in America can get the same treatment punters in Australia get. Some countries are just further ahead on certain issues than others. |
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