Devin Hester; The Greatest Return Specialist

Devin Hester: The Greatest Return Specialist

Special Teams is not a third of the game.

    I’m sorry but anyone who utters those words does not understand the game of football. Of course, Special Teams are a third of the game. How many games are won based on Field Goals or punts? Can a kickoff or punt coverage make or break a team? Can the return team, or lack thereof, make that much of a difference.

    Let’s ask the Chicago Bears.

   Do you, the Chicago Bears, regret taking Devin Hester with the 57th pick of the 2006 NFL draft? Of course, they don’t. I don’t think they’d regret spending a first round pick on him. He single-handedly put an end to that question. If Special Teams aren’t a third of the game, why did he almost help Chicago steal that Super Bowl from the Colts? He did his part. The other two thirds couldn’t do the same.

    He’s not just one of the best return specialists in NFL history. He is the best return man ever. He could turn it on at any moment and could break a game wide open. A touchdown on Special Teams can change the game significantly. Remember the Monday Night game against the Cardinals?

    All due respect to other return men throughout history from Dante Hall to Lon Washington to Deion and all but Hester had all of you beat by such a wide margin at both Punt and Kickoff returns that I don’t think the league will ever see anything like him again. He’s the all-time leader in return touchdowns and did it in far fewer games than the others.

    Devin Hester’s like the Basketball Player who can come off the bench and electrify the crowd. Dominique Wilkins and Vince Carter come to mind. Devin Hester had that kind of impact to the point that he wanted to be known as something other than a return man. I say that if you’re that great at something, you do it until you retire.

    Now we all know the question, is Hester worthy of the Hall of Fame.

    In my opinion, he’s an absolute guaranteed first-ballot Hall of Famer. Even Bill Belichick was afraid of punting to Devin Hester. Hester is the only player I’ve ever seen where he could switch the momentum of the game in about 20 seconds. Players like Brady and JJ Watt are out there way more than a return man is but Hester had just as big of an impact.

    But…the Hall of Fame has a hard-on for Special Teams. They “finally” let Ray Guy into the Hall of Fame and that guy’s the best punter of all time by a mile. I fear the same thing will happen with Hester because the voters are like that. I know he’ll have my vote when the time comes and I have no doubt he’ll enter the Hall at some point.

I believe he’s a first ballot Hall of Famer, what do you think?

-By: Thomas P. Braun Jr.