Last year for Christmas, Florida punter Chas Henry got a Ray Guy rookie card as a gift from one of his mom’s co-workers.
Since then, the joke has been that if the Florida senior wins the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s top punter, he’d have to get Guy to sign it.
Henry might have to get that card out of its frame in his family’s Dallas, Ga. home. He was named a finalist for the award for a second year in a row on Monday, putting him in the running with Georgia’s Drew Butler, who won it last year, and Iowa’s Ryan Donahue for the award.
“It means everything to him,” said Henry’s father, David, on Monday afternoon. “If you’re a punter, you don’t win the Heisman (Trophy). This the Heisman for punters.”
Henry leads the country with a 47.3-yard average on punts this year. That has helped the Gators (7-4, 4-4 SEC) rank first nationall in net punting with 42.24 yards per punt.
Florida has not had a Ray Guy Award winner since it was created in 2000.
“It’s a great honor, and it’s even a bigger honor, I guess, to be named twice,” David Henry said.
A national voting body of Football Bowl Subdivision coaches, sports information directors, national media and former Ray Guy Award winners voted on the finalists and will cast a second round of ballots to decide the winner.
The award will be presented on The Home Depot College Football Awards live on Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
