William Ray Guy was an American professional football punter who played for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Guy was a first-team All-American selection in 1972 as a senior for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, and was the first 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.
The Ray Guy Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding punter as adjudged by the Augusta Sports Council. The award is named after punter Ray Guy, an All-American for Southern Mississippi and an All-Pro in the National Football League for the Oakland Raiders.
A punter (P) in gridiron football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts (kicks) the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a third down in Canadian football. Punters may also occasionally take part in fake punts in those same situations, when they throw or run the football instead of punting.
The Memphis Tigers are the athletic teams that represent the University of Memphis, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the American Athletic Conference, except for the rifle team, which is a member of the single-sport Great America Rifle Conference.
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Golden Eagles compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level mainly as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). USM's newest sport of women's beach volleyball, a sport not currently sponsored by the Sun Belt, was added in the 2018–19 school year and competes in Conference USA. The school's earliest nickname was Tigers. Thereafter came such nicknames as Normalites, Yellow Jackets, Confederates, and Southerners. Golden Eagles was selected in a student/alumni vote in the early 1972. Seymour d'Campus is the name of the modern-day mascot eagle.
Kody Andrew Bliss is a former American football punter. He attended Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee before signing in 2003 to play collegiately at Auburn University. He is currently an emergency medicine resident physician at LSUHSC Baton Rouge Emergency Medicine program in Baton Rouge, LA.
Thomas Edward Skladany is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Detroit Lions. He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. A three-time first-team All-American, he is widely considered to be, along with Ray Guy, one of the two greatest punters in college history.
Peter Lembo is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at the University at Buffalo. Previously, he was the special teams coordinator at the University of South Carolina, where, in 2022, he oversaw the highest rated special teams unit in college football. Prior to that, he was the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at the University of Memphis, a position he assumed in January 2019. Prior to Memphis, he was the associate head coach and special teams coordinator at Rice University. Before joining the coaching staff at Rice University, he was the head coach at Lehigh University from 2001 to 2005, at Elon University from 2006 to 2010, and at Ball State University from 2011 to 2015. He was also the assistant head coach and special teams coordinator at the University of Maryland for two seasons. Lembo enjoyed success in each of his three stops as a head coach and accumulated a 112–65 career record over a 15-year period. His 79–36 record in ten seasons at the FCS level makes him one of the winningest coaches in the history of that classification.
Mark Mariscal is a former American college and professional football placekicker and punter who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for a single season in 2004. He played college football for the University of Colorado, earned consensus All-American honors, and was recognized as the top punter in college football. He played professionally for the CFL's Montreal Alouettes.
Matt Fodge is a former American football punter. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Oklahoma State.
Zoltán Meskó is a former American football punter. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan. Born in Romania, Meskó emigrated with his family to the United States and eventually settled in Ohio. There he was discovered as a potential kicker for his school's football team, the Twinsburg Tigers, and became one of the best high school football kickers in the nation, excelling as both a punter and placekicker. After earning top honors in his state, Meskó was recruited by several college football teams. He selected Michigan over several schools including Indiana, Ohio State, and USC.
Eric Wilbur is an American former college and professional football player who was a punter in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for two seasons. Wilbur played college football for the University of Florida. He was signed by the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2007, and has also played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.
Australians in American football include not just a number of successful football code converts, but also a number of players with high profiles either before or as a result of their switching codes.
Andrew Joseph Butler is a former American football punter. He played college football for the University of Georgia and was recognized as a unanimous All-American punter. The Pittsburgh Steelers signed him as an undrafted free agent following the 2012 NFL Draft.
Chas Henry is a former American football punter. Henry played college football for the University of Florida, earned consensus All-American honors, and was recognized as the best college punter as a senior. He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2011.
Tom Hornsey is a former Australian-born punter. Hornsey was the Ray Guy Award winner in 2013, recognized as the best college football punter in America.
Andrew James Kaser is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies, twice earning All-American honors. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
The 2018 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game was an NCAA Division I college football conference championship game for the American Athletic Conference (AAC) played on December 1, 2018. It was the 4th American Athletic Conference Championship, and was played at Spectrum Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
Pressley Harvin III is an American football punter who is a free agent. He played college football at Georgia Tech, where he received unanimous All-American honors and won the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top collegiate punter as a senior. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Reid Bauer is an American football punter for the Memphis Tigers. He previously played for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He was awarded the college football 2021 Peter Mortell Holder of the Year Award.
