Ray Guy Award Winners Year by Year

The Ray Guy Award recognizes the top collegiate punter in the country. The award was established in 2000 by the Augusta Sports Council (ASC). In addition to other honors like the Doak Walker Award and the Heisman Trophy, the Ray Guy Award recognizes a key player on any football team.

During the ESPN broadcast of The Home Depot College Football Awards from Atlanta, Georgia, the ASC gives a live presentation of the award. Dr. John Savage Jr., an orthopedic surgeon and sculptor from Augusta, designed the bronze Ray Guy Award trophy featuring the legendary punter.

A voting group consisting of national media, former Ray Guy Award winners, and sports information directors from the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) chooses the winner of the Ray Guy Award. Punters' overall stats and value to the team are taken into consideration while evaluating them. The percentage of punts inside the 20-yard line, the net average, and the percentage of punts not returned are given special attention.

The 2023 Ray Guy Award Winner

Tory Taylor, a former punter at the University of Iowa, was the winner of the 2023 Ray Guy Award. He became the first Hawkeye to do so and the second Australian native from Melbourne to win the esteemed award in a row (Adam Korsak, Rutgers).

In November 2023, the coaches and media selected Taylor as the Eddleman-Fields Big Ten Punter of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten. In the course of the regular season, he was named to Ray's 8 five times, the Ray Guy National Punter of the Week, and the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week three times. In addition to being a 2020 and 2021 Ray Guy Award semifinalist, Taylor was named a first-team All-American by The Athletic and Sports Illustrated as a senior and by CBS.

For the third straight year, Taylor broke Iowa's single-season punting yardage record in the 2023 season. He leads the Big Ten with a 47.9 punting average and ranks third nationally. Taylor’s 86 punts for 4,119 yards rank first in the NCAA. 36 of his punts have gone over 50 yards (six of them over 60 yards), 27 have been fair caught, 30 have been downed inside the 20, eleven inside the 10, and six inside the five.

Who is Ray Guy?

William Ray Guy, an American professional football punter who played for the Oakland-Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL), was born on December 22, 1949, and passed away on November 3, 2022.

Guy was the first pure punter ever selected in the first round of the NFL Draft when he was chosen by the Raiders with the 23rd overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft. Guy was a first-team All-American selection in 1972 while a senior for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Guy was a Raider and won three Super Bowls. In 2014, Guy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. Guy was an eight-time All-Pro and is regarded as the best punter of all time by most.

Guy sold his three Super Bowl rings at auction in 2011 in order to pay off his debts after declaring bankruptcy. The ring auction brought in $96,216, more than the $90,000 upper estimate. Guy passed away in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on November 3, 2022, at the age of 72, following an advanced-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Which Players Won Multiple Ray Guy Award?

List of Ray Guy Award Winners, Year by Year