Jackson Free Press

It took way too long, but it finally happened. Southern Miss and Oakland Raider punter Ray Guy is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Guy becomes the first punter ever elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He joins Jan Stenerud as the only kickers in Canton, Ohio. During his time in the NFL, Guy turned punting into a weapon and added the word "hang time" to the American sports lexicon.

As a member of the Oakland Raiders, Guy played in all 207 games in his 14-year NFL career. He was a member of three Raiders squads that won the Super Bowls (XI, XV and XVIII).

Guy was the first punter ever drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. He was a seven-time Pro-Bowler, led the NFL in punting three times and was a member of the NFL's 75th Anniversary team.

The award for best college punter is named after Guy.

In 2011, Guy talked to me for an article in this paper, and I could tell it really meant a lot to him to enter the Hall of Fame. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be," he told me at the time. "Early for some and later for others."

Speaking of great athletes, the Winter Olympics start this week. It will be a time to watch athletes try to reach the mountaintop of their sport after a lifetime of work. It will also be a time for most of the world to bring attention to Russia's stance on homosexuality.

But don't look for the athletes to make political statements while competing or on the medal stand. The International Olympic Committee frowns upon such statements and normally deals harsh punishments to athletes who make them.

One of the most famous statements was at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. U.S. sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were expelled after coming to the medal ceremony shoeless and raising a fist while bowing their heads.

So look to social media—athletes are unlikely to make a statement on the field or at the medal stand, but nothing bars them from expressing themselves during press conferences.