HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Ray Guy, the first punter to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Thursday. He was 72.

Southern Mississippi, where Guy starred before becoming the first punter ever taken in the first round of the NFL draft, said he died following a lengthy illness. He had been receiving care in a Hattiesburg-area hospice.

Guy was drafted 23rd overall by Al Davis’ Raiders in 1973 and played his entire 14-year career with the team. He was a three-time All-Pro selection. In 2014, he became the first player to make be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame exclusively for his punting.

“Ray Guy was a football player who punted,” the late John Madden said in 2014 before he presented Guy for induction into the Hall of Fame.

Guy was selected to the NFL’s 75th anniversary team and the 1970’s all-decade team. He was a three-time Super Bowl champion and seven-time Pro Bowl selection.

Madden said the first time he watched Guy punt in practice for the Raiders, he knew the team had something special.

“He punted the longest, highest footballs that I had ever seen,” Madden said then.

A native of Thomson, Georgia, William Ray Guy is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.

At Southern Mississippi, Guy also played defensive back. He still shares the school single-season record for most interceptions with eight in 1972 and his 61-yard field goal at Utah State set an NCAA record at the time.

In 2015, Southern Miss renamed the street outside The Duff Athletic Center on its campus “Ray Guy Way.”

Guy ended his NFL career in 1986 with a streak of 619 punts without having one blocked. But it took nearly three decades for him to be selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He was a finalist for induction seven times starting in 1992 without being voted in and didn’t even make it that far on other occasions.

“That kind of bothered me because they were saying that’s not a position, it doesn’t take an athlete to do that, it’s not important,” Guy said before his Hall of Fame induction in 2014. “That’s what really got under my skin. It wasn’t so much whether I did or didn’t. I wish somebody had. It was just knowing that they didn’t care.

“That’s what kind of frosted me a little bit.”

Guy in many ways revolutionized the position.

His kicks went so high that one that hit the Superdome scoreboard 90 feet above the field in a Pro Bowl helped put “hang time” into the football vernacular. His ability to pin the opponent deep with either high kicks or well-positioned ones was a key part of the success for the great Raiders teams of the 1970s and 80s.

“It was something that was given to me. I don’t know how,” he said. “I’m really blessed in that category. It’s something I really appreciate and I advanced it and I made it into something great.”.

DOLPHINS: Newly acquired linebacker Bradley Chubb and the Miami Dolphins agreed on a five-year extension that could be worth as much as $119 million, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said.

Chubb’s deal includes about $63 million in guaranteed money, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the agreement nor the terms had been revealed publicly.

The Dolphins made a trade with Denver earlier this week for Chubb, who had 5 1/2 sacks this season for the Broncos and is a past Pro Bowl pick. They made that deal expecting to get a long-term contract done and it didn’t take Dolphins General Manager Chris Grier long to finish that task.

“When you do a deal like that for a player, you always would like to,” Grier said earlier this week.

Chubb is expected to make his Miami debut on Sunday when the Dolphins visit Chicago.

RAVENS: Baltimore receiver Rashod Bateman is out for the season after deciding to have surgery on his injured foot.

Coach John Harbaugh announced Thursday that Bateman opted for Lisfranc surgery after consulting with his family and agent.

The Ravens drafted Bateman in the first round last year, but his rookie season was delayed by a groin injury. He ultimately caught 46 passes for 515 yards in 12 games in 2021, and Baltimore showed confidence in him when the team traded away receiver Marquise Brown in the offseason.

TITANS: Two-time NFL rushing champ Derrick Henry dismissed worries about his feet Thursday after the Tennessee Titans put him on the injury report with a foot issue.

“My foot is fine. There’s nothing wrong,” Henry said. “I’ll be out there on Sunday playing. So, my foot is fine. There’s nothing to panic about.”

Henry had 32 carries in last week’s win in Houston, a season high for any NFL running back, and finished with a season-high 219 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Henry did not practice Thursday after being limited Wednesday.

SAINTS: New Orleans has decided to place receiver Michael Thomas on injured reserve because of a dislocated toe that has not responded well to rehab, Coach Dennis Allen said Thursday.

While Allen declined to get into specific timelines for Thomas’ recovery, he added, “I don’t anticipate that he’ll be able to return this year.” The decision means Thomas will have missed most of three seasons since his five-year, $96 million extension went into effect in 2020.