Ray Guy, a Hall of Fame punter who won three Super Bowls with the Raiders during his career, has died, his alma mater, the University of Southern Mississippi, announced Thursday. He was 72.

The Oakland Raiders' decision made Guy the first-ever punter to be selected in the first round in the draft when they chose him No. 23 overall in 1973. He went on to make the Pro Bowl seven times and was a First-Team All-Pro selection three times.

"The Southern Miss family mourns today following the passing of Golden Eagle great Ray Guy, who died Thursday morning following a lengthy illness," the school said in a news release

Guy is considered to be one of the greatest punters of all-time as he spent 14 seasons with the Raiders. He pinned opponents inside their own 20-yard line 210 times during his career. He received a great compliment from head coach John Madden during Guy’s induction ceremony.

"The first time I laid eyes on him is when we first brought him to practice. And he started to punt, and he punted the longest, highest footballs that I had ever seen," Madden said at the time, via NFL.com. "And I said, 'OK, that's enough.' You know, I didn't want to tire his leg out or have him get injured. And he said 'Coach, I'm just warming up.' And I thought 'Holy moly, just warming up?' And I knew right then, at that moment, that he was going to be special."

Pro Football Talk noted that Guy’s prowess on the field caused controversy. In 1976, Houston Oilers prolific returner Billy "White Shoes" Johnson and Guy agreed to have the ball examined, and a test at Rice University cleared the punter of wrongdoing.

When his career was over, Guy was named to the NFL’s All-1970s team, the NFL 75th Anniversary and 100th Anniversary All-Time teams and has an award named after him to give to the NCAA’s best punter.