Thread: Hestory in the making

Me am gram-urr badd.

October 3, 2011Hester cementing special place in NFL history


By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 10/3/2011 11:45 PM

A Facebook post by veteran safety Chris Harris Monday pretty much summed up how Bears players, coaches and fans view incomparable return specialist Devin Hester. “The best there ever is. The best there ever was. The best there ever will be,” Harris wrote.

Already the NFL record holder for combined kick return touchdowns, Hester set a league mark with the 11th punt return TD of his career when he dashed 69 yards in Sunday’s win over the Panthers.The return came on a low line drive off the foot of punter Jason Baker. Hester took a few steps to his right, darted to his left, broke a tackle and burst through a seam en route to the end zone.

“It was like baseball; he pitched it right down the middle,” Hester said Monday at Halas Hall. “It gives me [the chance] to go either way. I can set the defense up to start one way and go back the other. To me, it was more of a miss-hit by the punter.”

After returning four punts and two kickoffs for TDs in three seasons at the University of Miami, Hester was confident that his skills would translate to the NFL. But even he admits he never expected to score as many TDs on special teams—15 and counting—as he has. “Not 15,” Hester said. “I knew I had the ability to do it, but at this point I didn’t think it was going to go this far. Fortunately, I was blessed with the opportunity to be on a great team like this with guys that want to return just as bad as the returner does, and that helps out a lot.”

Hester set an NFL record with five kick return TDs as a rookie in 2006, and that didn’t even count his 92-yard score on the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI. He then eclipsed the mark with six kick return TDs in 2002. After a two-year drought, he added three more TDs last season.

“It’s basically just instincts,” Hester said, “something that God blessed me with, performing on the field going along with the great calls that coach Dave [Toub] comes up with and my teammates for the great blocks they provide me to get into the end zone.” Hester credits much of his success to his teammates and the way they’re employed by Toub.

“Coach Dave is probably one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL,” Hester said. “He finds ways to utilize his players. Some could be undersized, some could be big. But he always finds a way to put them in the right position and it shows on game day. It helps out a lot.”

Hester also returned a kickoff 73 yards Sunday, after hauling in the ball nine yards deep in the end zone. He appreciates the freedom that coach Lovie Smith gives him to make plays in those situations. “When a returner has his head coach tell him that if it’s kicked 10 yards deep and I can jump up and catch it before it goes out of bounds and [I can] come out with it, that’s just how much faith he has in the return game as well as the blockers,” Hester said. “Regardless of how deep the ball is kicked, we have great returners on the team with the ability to take it the distance.”

Smith was pretty sure that Hester would go the distance after his 73-yard kickoff return on the second play of the second quarter. Sure enough, he scored a little over three minutes later. “I can be an expert since I’ve seen every return Devin has had around here,” Smith said. “Normally you can tell when he’s really feeling it that day, and he felt pretty good right away. He’s almost unstoppable when he starts off like that.”

Hester celebrated his record return by doing three somersaults after reaching the end zone. He drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the tumbling display, a flag he knows he deserved. “I think it’s fair. At the end of the day, I know I can’t keep flipping like that. At the same time, you only get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to break a record. I don’t want to break the record and just make it seem like it was just an ordinary touchdown. I’m the type of player, if I’m having fun, that’s when I play better.

"When I play like a robot and I catch a pass and I just walk back to the huddle, I don’t feed off that momentum. But when I go out and have fun and I show my true character, I make more plays. That’s just the type of player I am.”

I suppose there are some who may argue with Harris touting Hester as the best of all time but those are only the ones who haven't seen him break one. I have never seen any return man with the combination of speed, vision, and cutting ability all rolled into one that he has. The only other player I ever watched who could make cuts without ever breaking stride was Gale Sayers and I believe Devin Hester tops him.

When it comes to the best of all time we've now got Sayers, Payton and now Hester and I think there'll be a HOF jacket waiting for him someday too.

Originally Posted by Jimmors

Butkus, Singletary

True but I was thinking of just the offensive guys and point producers.