Countdown to 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement: Devin Hester
Enshrinement
Published on : 8/2/2024
If DEVIN HESTER is good at two things, he has said, they are seeing and being seen.
“I had the vision to create things before they happened,” Hester said. “Just an ability to see it all in slow motion.”
Before he saw scenes like Super Bowl XLI as a hawk-eyed special teams player, Hester played on both sides of the ball at Suncoast High School in South Florida. He excelled across the field, but opposing high schools saw the developing danger of his return skills and rarely kicked to him.
His returns continued to advance after his commitment to the University of Miami. There, he made himself and his skills visible. In a 2003 match against the University of Florida, Hester returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, a feat that would soon become synonymous his name.
After Hester was selected in the second round by the Chicago Bears in the 2006 NFL Draft, Hall of Famer Gale Sayers spoke with anticipation about the young player.
“He may very well be the real deal,” Sayers said. “But let’s just wait and see.”
By the end of the 2006 season, the world saw the impact that a sharp-sighted rookie kickoff and punt returner could make on a game. During his first season with the Bears, Hester returned 47 punts for 600 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 20 kickoffs for 528 yards and two touchdowns.
He capped his rookie season with his historic opening-kickoff return for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLI, scoring the quickest touchdown in the game’s history.
“What he did on special teams and how long you had to train and prepare as an opponent just to stop one man was crazy,” said the Colts’ Matt Giordano, who faced Hester in that Super Bowl. “And it was that way for a decade.”
Hester continued to demolish records. During his 13 seasons, he recorded 20 return touchdowns, including six kick return touchdowns in a single season — both NFL records.
“I’ve never seen anything like it from that position,” Hall of Famer Michael Strahan said. “There’s no one — no one — who does what he does and makes it look so effortless.”
Throughout the game changing and record breaking, Hester kept his eyes forward.
“I’m not really into breaking records right now,” he said in an interview months after Super Bowl XLI. “When it’s over, then I’ll look back and see what kind of records I broke.”
The time has finally come to look back. Hindsight is 20/20, and, for Devin Hester, his impact on the game of football has always been in perfect focus.
“Coming out of college, coaches told me I wasn’t going to be anything but a kickoff and punt returner,” he recalled. “I’m here today to say I am a kickoff and punt returner, but at the same time, I’m the best to ever do it.”
“I had the vision to create things before they happened,” Hester said. “Just an ability to see it all in slow motion.”
Before he saw scenes like Super Bowl XLI as a hawk-eyed special teams player, Hester played on both sides of the ball at Suncoast High School in South Florida. He excelled across the field, but opposing high schools saw the developing danger of his return skills and rarely kicked to him.
His returns continued to advance after his commitment to the University of Miami. There, he made himself and his skills visible. In a 2003 match against the University of Florida, Hester returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, a feat that would soon become synonymous his name.
After Hester was selected in the second round by the Chicago Bears in the 2006 NFL Draft, Hall of Famer Gale Sayers spoke with anticipation about the young player.
“He may very well be the real deal,” Sayers said. “But let’s just wait and see.”
By the end of the 2006 season, the world saw the impact that a sharp-sighted rookie kickoff and punt returner could make on a game. During his first season with the Bears, Hester returned 47 punts for 600 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 20 kickoffs for 528 yards and two touchdowns.
He capped his rookie season with his historic opening-kickoff return for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLI, scoring the quickest touchdown in the game’s history.
“What he did on special teams and how long you had to train and prepare as an opponent just to stop one man was crazy,” said the Colts’ Matt Giordano, who faced Hester in that Super Bowl. “And it was that way for a decade.”
Hester continued to demolish records. During his 13 seasons, he recorded 20 return touchdowns, including six kick return touchdowns in a single season — both NFL records.
“I’ve never seen anything like it from that position,” Hall of Famer Michael Strahan said. “There’s no one — no one — who does what he does and makes it look so effortless.”
Throughout the game changing and record breaking, Hester kept his eyes forward.
“I’m not really into breaking records right now,” he said in an interview months after Super Bowl XLI. “When it’s over, then I’ll look back and see what kind of records I broke.”
The time has finally come to look back. Hindsight is 20/20, and, for Devin Hester, his impact on the game of football has always been in perfect focus.
“Coming out of college, coaches told me I wasn’t going to be anything but a kickoff and punt returner,” he recalled. “I’m here today to say I am a kickoff and punt returner, but at the same time, I’m the best to ever do it.”