Guy heads class for Hall of Fame
After a long wait, the former Raider is the first punter elected to go to Canton.
Peyton Manning’s record-setting season earned him his fifth Associated Press NFL most-valuable-player award Saturday night in a landslide. No other player has won more than three.
Denver’s record-setting quarterback, who threw for 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards in leading the Broncos to the AFC’s best record, earned 49 votes from a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league. New England quarterback Tom Brady got the other vote.
Manning won MVP awards with Indianapolis in 2003, ’04, ’08 and ’09. He was the runner-up last season to Adrian Peterson.
Manning, who will play in the Super Bowl on Sunday, sent his father to pick up the award. Archie Manning, holding his grandson Marshall in his arms, accepted the award from Joe Montana and Aaron Rodgers.
Manning also took the AP offensive-player-of-the-year award for the second time.
Carolina grabbed two major awards, with Ron Rivera named coach of the year and linebacker Luke Kuechly voted top de- fensive player.
Green Bay running back Eddie Lacy and Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson were the top rookies for 2013.
San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers took the award for comeback player of the year.
Chicago cornerback Charles Tillman won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, and accepted the honor with tears
in his eyes. Guy, Strahan are elected to Hall of Fame
The hang time is over for Ray Guy. The longtime punter for the Oakland Raiders is all by himself again.
After waiting 23 years, Guy is the first punter elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“Good things are worth waiting for,” Guy said Saturday night after being elected along with six other players. “It’s just a matter of time when it will show up. And I knew it would, sooner or later. It had to, whether it was me or somebody down the road. But sooner or later, it had to show up, because that is a part of a football game.”
Defensive end Michael Strahan, receiver Andre Reed, defensive back Aeneas Williams and defensive end Claude Humphrey also are part of the class of 2014. Two first-time eligible players, linebacker Derrick Brooks and offensive tackle Walter Jones, were selected.
The announcement was made at the NFL Honors award show, less than 24 hours before the Denver Broncos were to take on the Seattle Seahawks in the first Super Bowl.
Among the finalists who didn’t get in were two with ties to the Indianapolis Colts and current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning — former coach Tony Dungy and receiver Marvin Harrison.
Induction will be on Aug. 1 in Canton, Ohio.
Guy turned the punting job into a defensive weapon after he became the first player at his position to be selected in the first round of the draft in 1973. He made “hang time” part of the football vernacular while playing all of his 207 games in 14 seasons with the Raiders.
The Southern Mississippi product averaged 42.4 yards for his career. Only three of his 1,049 punts were blocked, and he had 209 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.
“It’s gratifying to now see a punter go into the Hall of Fame,” Guy said, who joins Jan Stenerud as the only kickers enshrined. “Whether it was me or somebody else, they needed representation in that position.” Shanahan to Browns
The Cleveland Browns will hire Kyle Shanahan as their offensive coordinator, according to a person informed of the team’s plans.