Hester’s Hall Credentials Unquestioned
Devin Hester is the best at what he does. Period. End of sentence. See you in Canton. Fresh off his 12th NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award and 18th return touchdown, CBS’s Pete Prisco isn’t that convinced in his latest piece where he deems Hester “a special return man who can change a game. Not Hall worthy.” That quote has sparked my latest LOWER THE BOOM post.
Prisco brings a returner like Brian Mitchell into the conversation, but Mitchell took 14 years to set the return record. Hester did it in less than 6 seasons when he busted that record last year. Now, Hester is sneaking up on his mentor Deion Sanders’ all time return record of 19 returns. Prime Time set the mark of 19 return TD’s in 188 games; Hester is one away with just 85 career games.
It’s noteworthy that Sanders is in the Hall of Fame and it wasn’t for his tackling. Let’s face it, Neon Deion is in the Hall of Fame because of his return abilities.
I think a pretty basic litmus test for the Hall of Fame is being among the best at your position during your era. Hester has been the most dominant EVER at what he does. He has SHATTERED every record and changed the game. They changed the kickoff rules because of him whether they’ll admit it or not.
Who knows where the records will stand by the time Hester is done doing his thing? Whatever the final numbers turn out to be, they will be more than Hall of Fame worthy as Hester runs to Canton.