NEW YORK -- The hang time is over for Ray Guy. The longtime punter for the Oakland Raiders is all by himself once again. After waiting 23 years, Guy is the first punter elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "Good things are worth waiting for," Guy said Saturday night after being elected along with six other players. "Its just a matter of time when it will show up. And I knew it would, sooner or later. It had to, whether it was me or somebody down the road. But sooner or later, it had to show up, because that is a part of a football game." Defensive end Michael Strahan, receiver Andre Reed, defensive back Aeneas Williams and defensive end Claude Humphrey also were part of the class of 2014. Two first-time eligible players, linebacker Derrick Brooks and offensive tackle Walter Jones, were selected. The announcement was made at the NFL Honors award show, less than 24 hours before the Denver Broncos take on the Seattle Seahawks in the first Super Bowl. Among the finalists who didnt get in were two with ties to the Indianapolis Colts and current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning -- coach Tony Dungy and receiver Marvin Harrison. Each incoming Hall of Famer walked to the stage and was announced individually. Strahan, who helped the Giants make two Super Bowls, got a huge cheer from the home crowd. Induction will be on Aug. 1 in Canton, Ohio. Guy turned the punting job into a defensive weapon after he became the first player at his position to be selected in the first round of the draft in 1973. He made "hang time" part of the football vernacular while playing all of his 207 games in 14 seasons with the Raiders. The Southern Mississippi product averaged 42.4 yards for his career. Only three of his 1,049 punts were blocked, and he had 209 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. "Its gratifying to now see a punter go into the Hall of Fame," Guy said, who joins Jan Stenerud as the only kickers enshrined . "Whether it was me or somebody else, they needed representation in that position." Brooks was the cornerstone of a Bucs defence that led the league in 2002 and 05, and the NFC five times. He was The Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year when Tampa Bay won its only Super Bowl after the 2002 season. The linebacker never missed a game in his 14 seasons and averaged a remarkable 146 tackles. Six of his 25 interceptions were returned for touchdowns, including a league-record three in 02. Seattle certainly got a winner when it moved up to the No. 6 spot in the 1997 draft to take Jones. He immediately provided blindside protection for Warren Moon and quickly became the first Seahawks lineman to earn a Pro Bowl spot. He was one of the chief road graders who helped Shaun Alexander rush for 266 yards in a 2001 game -- the fourth-highest total in NFL history -- and then rush for a team-record 1,880 yards and 28 TDs in his MVP season in 2005. "Coming into the league all I wanted to do was get here, and ... say I could play this game," Jones said. "For me to be here now, and for my team that I started with and finished with, to be here in the Super Bowl is just like the icing on the cake." Strahan set the NFL record for sacks in a single season, getting 22 1/2 in 2001. The one most people remember is the record-setter in the final game of the regular season, when Green Bays Brett Favre seemed to lay down on a play late in the game. While there is controversy about that play, the gap-toothed Strahan was one of the top two-way defensive ends. Younger teammates said he taught them how to work to become NFL players, and he walked away from the NFL after winning the Super Bowl in February 2008. "Its hard to find guys with everything, but this guy had everything . size, speed, power, toughness, endurance, motor, smarts, leadership, heart, love for the game, but what I admired most about Michael was his pride," Giants general Jerry Reese said. "No matter what the circumstances were, when he walked out on that field on Sunday, he was going to give it ALL to you. There arent many guys who can say that." Reed came out of little Kutztown (Pa.) University and played his first 15 seasons with Buffalo, getting to four Super Bowls, but never winning one. His final season was with Washington. His 951 career receptions are third in league history, highlighted by nine consecutive seasons of 50-plus catches. Long before people spoke about yards after the catch, Reed was doing it. He finished with 13,198 yards and 87 touchdowns. "Having to wait this long for him is a sin, but the bottom line is hes in and thats what counts," former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly said of Reeds nine-year wait to get into the Hall. A walk-on at Southern University, Williams was a shutdown cornerback in his 14 NFL seasons, the first 10 with the Cardinals and the last four with the Rams. He had 55 career interceptions, getting at least one in every season except his last. He had five or more in picks in six seasons, with nine being his best in 1994. Williams spent his last four seasons with St. Louis. He started at cornerback for the Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl and played safety in his final two seasons. The Hall of Fame doors finally opened for Humphrey on his 28th year of eligibility and his fifth as a finalist. The durable six-time Pro Bowl pick had 122 career sacks in 14 seasons with the Falcons and Eagles, who acquired him after a brief retirement in the 1978 season. "I never really gave up hope," said Humphrey, whose only regret was his wife died in July and didnt get to see his election. "I always figured there was a place for me here." Manuel Lanzini Jersey . Villarreals victory in Valencia kept it in fourth place and in control of Spains last Champions League spot. Uche broke free in the area in the 10th minute and was brought down by goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was shown a direct red card. Ever Banega Jersey . Iwakuma pitched seven strong innings to stay unbeaten in road games since last July, leading the Seattle Mariners to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. http://www.argentinasoccerauthentic.com/Lionel-Messi-Copa-America-Jersey/ . Catch the game on TSN starting at 7pm et/4pm pt. You can also listen to all the action live on TSN 1050 at 7pm et. The Knicks are two games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference race. Javier Mascherano Argentina Jersey . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate). Nicolas Tagliafico Argentina Jersey . -- Adam Tambellini scored three times and set up one more as the Calgary Hitmen won their sixth in a row by crushing the host Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-1 on Saturday in Western Hockey League play.WINNIPEG -- Niklas Backstrom was supposed to be a spectator when his Minnesota Wild visited the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon. Instead, the goalie was called into action for the first time since suffering a concussion on Nov. 13 when starter Josh Harding was injured during the warm-up. Backstrom made a smooth transition, turning aside 37 shots in regulation and overtime before teammate Charlie Coyle scored the winner in the fourth round of the 3-2 shootout victory. "You have to be ready all the time and you never know whats going to happen so you have to find a way to be ready and be at your best," Backstrom said after picking up his second win of the season. Harding suffered a lower-body injury in warm-up after he slipped on a puck. Backstrom was returning from his first concussion, suffered after an elbow to the head by Nazem Kadri on Nov. 13 that led to the Toronto forward being suspended for three games. His first full practice was Friday. Wild backup netminder Darcy Kuemper was on his way to Iowa of the AHL, but was contacted at the Winnipeg airport and whisked to the MTS Centre to sit on the bench in case Backstrom needed relief. "He (Backstrom is) the difference in the game for us," Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said. "I mean, obviously I give our players a great deal of credit for dealing with the adversity with what happened at the beginning of the game. Its a little bit easier to deal with it when you see your goalie go out and play the way that he was. "In the first period, we just werent good enough by any stretch and he kept us in it and gave a us a chance to continue to find our game and its a real credit to Backy." Minnesota moved to 15-5-4 and has won six of its past seven games and is 9-1-1 in November. The loss extended Winnipeg (10-11-4) winless streak to four games (0-2-2). It was the Jets eighth shootout of the season and third loss in the contest. Pavelec stopped 35 in regulation and overtime for Winnipeg. Aside from Coyle, who deked to beat Pavelec for his first career shootout goal and second attempt, Mikko Koivu also scored in the shootout. Bryan Little beat Backstrom for the Jets. Michael Frolik and Matt Halischuk each had a goal and assist for Winnipeg in regulation. Nino Niederreiter and Zach Parise scored for Minnesota, with Parises 11th of the season sending the gamme into overtime.dddddddddddd Parise added an assist and now has 12 points in his last 10 games. Jets coach Claude Noel said his team played a pretty good game against the surging Wild. "Theyve been the best team in the National Hockey League in the month of November," Noel said. "Its not been an easy task. Weve lost to them 2-1, 2-1 and now 3-2 in a shootout so were close, were getting there." This time, the back-breaker for the Jets came in the third period. Winnipeg was ahead 2-1 and it looked like the lead might be secure when Wild defenceman Marco Scandella was called for hooking at 14:02. But the short-handed situation was no challenge for the Wild. Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu and Parise got on a 3-on-2 breakway and Parise fired a low shot past Pavelec with 4:48 remaining. "The puck got rimmed around, didnt quite make it to the defenceman and boom, they came back 3-on-2," Noel said. Pavelec thought his teammates played better, but was lamenting not getting two points. "The way we lost today, its disappointing," Pavelec said. "We had the game. We had it. We should close it up. We didnt and we lost the point." After a scoreless first period in which Winnipeg outshot the visitors 14-4, Frolik marked his sixth goal of the season late in the second when the Wild turned the puck over just outside their blue-line. Frolik got the puck and sent a pass to Halischuk, who fired high at Backstrom. The puck went into the air and then onto the ice near the crease, where Frolik was on the spot to flip it into the net at 13:07. Minnesota tied it up 1-1 at 3:21 of the third when Scandella took a pass from Parise and fired a shot from the high slot. Niederreiter got the rebound and put it past Pavelec. The Jets regained the lead just over two minutes later after Halischuk took advantage of his own rebound to score his second of the season. Winnipeg had four shots in overtime, with Wild winger Jason Zucker breaking up a 2-on-1 rush as Evander Kane was about to shoot and Devin Setoguchis low shot stopped by Backstrom. The Wild had one shot on net in overtime. Winnipeg embarks on a six-game road trip, beginning Monday in New Jersey. Minnesota finishes a four-game road trip in St. Louis on Monday. Notes: Veteran Winnipeg defenceman Mark Stuart returned to the ice after missing the past 10 with a hip injury. ' ' '