Will Devin Hester Make The Hall of Fame?
SteemSports Presenter:@hogan22
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
Devin Hester announced his retirement from the NFL yesterday at the age of 35. Hester was not on a team this year and last played in 2016 for the Baltimore Ravens. Hester had a unique and incredible career and now the questions will come, “Will Devin Hester Make the Hall of Fame?”
Hester has the NFL record for 20 return touchdowns. 14 of them were punt returns, 5 of them were kick off returns, and 1 of them was a missed field goal run back that is one of the best plays in the history of the NFL. Hester is undoubtedly the best special teams player of all time and that can’t be disputed. He even ran back the opening kick off of the Super Bowl in 2006 when the Chicago Bears played the Indianapolis Colts. It was one of the coolest moments that I have ever seen.
He played his college football at the University of Miami. He tried to play wide receiver but that never was a fit. He was moved to defensive back but that wasn’t his forte either. He got the shot to return kicks and boy did he take advantage of that. Hester was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2006 and he burst on to the seen as a return man specialist. He had 3 punt returns and 2 kickoff returns as a rookie. The city of Chicago immediately embraced him and he was a star.
The second year for Hester was even better. Although the entire NFL had a year of film and extra attention put on stopping the Bears star, they simply could not. Every punt or kick off was must see television. And it wasn’t just Bears fans glued to their tv’s. It was the whole country. Hester would run back 4 punts and 2 kick offs in 2007.
But then head coach Lovie Smith and the Bears organization got greedy and tried to turn Hester into a number 1 wide receiver. They didn’t learn the lessons that the University of Miami coaches learned. Just let him return kicks and be the best in the league at it. Instead they tried forcing a square peg in a round hole. Hester was not able to clear his head and just run. He was spending all of his time learning routes and working on things he just wasn’t good at. He would have ZERO returns for touchdowns for the next two years. The Bears had ruined the most exciting player in sports.
Hester got back to the basics in 2010 and 2011. The focus was back on special teams and putting the fear of God in opposing kickers. Hester would have 6 returns for touchdowns over those 2 years and cemented his place in history. He would play a few more years and add on a couple more touchdowns to his total. But is this enough to be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? I say ABSOLUTELY! With the new kick off rules and the increased amount of touchbacks, we will never see another talent like this be unleashed.
Would you vote for Devin Hester to make the HOF? Thank you for following @steemsports and you can find me @hogan22
Hester was actually a pretty serviceable CB at Miami. His speed and quickness allowed him to make up for his shortfalls in terms of football knowledge. He was easily able to compete with the limited route-trees of college wide receivers, but the NFL is a completely different animal.
I would say that he certainly deserves a long and hard look. I don't think he will be a first-ballot guy, but his explosiveness and big-play threat changed games. Hell, they even moved the kickoff spot up 5 yards because he was returning so many kicks (and concussion issues, but who cares).
I remember when he came into the league and his first few seasons. He was a game changing player it was incredible to see a man with such explosive speed returning kicks. Coaches had to change their kickoff strategy to keep the ball out of the hands of Hester.
In my eyes he is a Hall of Famer, first ballot.... Maybe no. He was the most amazing kickoff returner I have ever seen
I agree that he is by far the most amazing kickoff guy I've ever watched. The missed field goal he ran back for a TD was insanely incredible. He definitely changed the game for sure. Personally, he should be a hall of fame guy, I just think the hall of fame voters are against guys that were so incredibly one-dimensional and didn't affect a ton of plays.
I hope he makes it and I think he will eventually, just not on his first time eligible.