This afternoon, five more football legends received their gold jackets and bronze busts during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony in Canton, OH. For most fans, Hall of Fame weekend is about celebrating football’s greatest careers. For Southern Miss fans, though, it’s also a reminder that one of college football’s proudest underdog programs has produced two players who forever changed the NFL.
Southern Miss doesn’t have the resources of Alabama or Ohio State, but it does have something many schools can only dream about, two Pro Football Hall of Famers. Ray Guy became the first pure punter ever inducted into Canton, while Brett Favre became one of the most iconic quarterbacks the game has ever seen. Their journeys were completely different, but both started in Hattiesburg.
Ray Guy’s Hall of Fame journey wasn’t just about statistics, it was about changing how football viewed an entire position. As Adam Vinatieri prepares to become the latest specialist inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend, it’s worth remembering that the door he walked through was first opened by a Golden Eagle. A unanimous All-American at Southern Miss from 1970-72, Guy was one of the most versatile athletes in school history. He punted, kicked field goals, played defensive back, filled in at quarterback and even threw a no-hitter for the Golden Eagle baseball team.
When the Oakland Raiders selected him with the 23rd overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft, using a first-round pick on a punter seemed almost unthinkable, but the gamble paid off. Guy earned seven Pro Bowl selections, won three Super Bowl championships and became the gold standard for punters, with his incredible hang time forever changing special teams strategy across football.
Despite his revolutionary impact, Guy spent decades waiting for Hall of Fame recognition because voters struggled to view specialists the same as other positions. That finally changed in 2014 when he became the first pure punter ever inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, proving that special teams excellence deserved a place alongside the game’s greatest players.
Guy passed away in 2022 at the age of 72, but his legacy continues to grow. Every specialist elected to Canton, including Vinatieri this weekend, owes something to the trail blazed by the Southern Miss legend who forever changed the conversation about football’s often-overlooked position, special teams.
Two years after Ray Guy’s induction, Southern Miss celebrated its second Pro Football Hall of Famer when Brett Favre entered Canton as a first-ballot selection following one of the most decorated quarterback careers in NFL history. Before Green Bay, three NFL MVP awards and a Super Bowl championship, Favre was simply a kid from the Kiln trying to make a name for himself in Hattiesburg.
From 1987-90, he developed into one of the greatest quarterbacks in Southern Miss history, throwing for more than 7,600 yards while leading the Golden Eagles to memorable victories over Alabama, Auburn and Florida State. His legendary toughness was already on display in college, most famously during the 1990 upset of Alabama when he engineered a comeback victory despite battling painful injuries.
After being traded from Atlanta to Green Bay following his rookie season, Favre blossomed into the face of one of the NFL’s most storied franchises, winning three consecutive NFL MVP awards from 1995-97, leading the Packers to victory in Super Bowl XXXI, earning 11 Pro Bowl selections and setting numerous league passing records during his 20-year career. His toughness, unmatched arm talent and willingness to attempt throws that few quarterbacks would even consider became his trademark, while his streak of 297 consecutive starts remains one of the most remarkable records in professional sports.
When Favre was inducted into Canton in 2016, Southern Miss wasn’t just celebrating one of football’s greatest quarterbacks, it was celebrating another Golden Eagle whose journey to the Pro Football Hall of Fame began in Hattiesburg.
Ray Guy and Brett Favre took very different paths to football immortality. Guy spent years convincing Hall of Fame voters that a punter belonged in Canton before becoming the first pure punter ever inducted, while Favre was a first-ballot selection whose place among football’s all-time greats was never in doubt. One forever changed how the NFL viewed special teams. The other became one of the defining quarterbacks of his generation.
What they shared, however, was where it all began. Both wore the black and gold before they became household names, helping put Southern Miss on the national football map. Today, every fan who walks through the Pro Football Hall of Fame can find two bronze busts that serve as a reminder that greatness doesn’t always come from college football’s biggest brands. Sometimes, it comes from Hattiesburg.
What makes Southern Miss’s Hall of Fame legacy even more impressive is the company it keeps. The Golden Eagles’ two Pro Football Hall of Famers are tied with Ole Miss, which produced Frank “Bruiser” Kinard and Gene Hickerson, and Mississippi Valley State, home to Jerry Rice and Deacon Jones. Only Jackson State has produced more, with an incredible four Hall of Famers in Walter Payton, Robert Brazile, Lem Barney and Jackie Slater. Mississippi State, despite its proud football tradition and long list of NFL stars, is still searching for its first Pro Football Hall of Famer.
For a program that has spent much of its history outside college football’s traditional power structure, Southern Miss standing alongside some of the state’s most storied programs, and ahead of countless national brands—speaks volumes about the caliber of players developed in Hattiesburg. That’s something every Golden Eagle fan can take pride in, especially every Hall of Fame weekend when Canton once again shines a spotlight on the game’s greatest legends.
About The Author
