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Devin Hester: The Greatest & The Last

theEMPIRE

theEMPIRE

turn down 4 wut
Joined
Jan 15, 2014
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A couple of short reads on Devin Hester @ SunSentinel via ChicagoTribune:

Hester was the greatest returner, and the last.
"... For years, Hester was -- yes, Jeff Joniak -- ridiculous. A record number of return touchdowns if you count all of them."
"... And, lord, nobody started a Super Bowl the way Hester did. Nobody."

Bears thank Hester in confirming his exit.
"...He is the NFL's all-time leader in punt return touchdowns (13) and total kick return touchdowns (18). Including his 108-yard missed field goal return touchdown, Hester's 19 overall return touchdowns are tied with Hall of Famer Deion Sanders for the most in regular-season history. When adding Hester's 92-yard kickoff return touchdown to open Super Bowl XLI, his 20 overall return touchdowns (including the postseason) are an NFL record."


Man was/is an absolute bad@ss... Underutilized at the U, but made himself known here & later feared in the NFL. The man who made sure we knew who he was on the opening kickoff of the 2003 home opener vs. UF --His first game in the Orange Bowl: 97yds to the house.

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Then, just over 3 years later, he returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI for a TD --The first & only player to do so: 92yds to the house.

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Will never forget the early days, when "Anytime" could be identified by only " ::alien:: " & everyone knew who you meant.

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As a Bear and Hurricane fan, nothing was more satisfying than seeing him dominate on Sundays.
 
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I asked in a previous Hester thread.....does anyone have the Hester highlight video set to Thunderstruck????
 
Please sign him Lovie!!! I will immediately go out and look for a new Hester Bucs jersey.
 
"Underutilized at the U" - I am not sure if I agree with this.

Hester's return capabilities are/were incredible, but other than special teams, where has he excelled? Miami tried him on offense and on defense and he wasnt able to catch on. The knock was that he didn't know the plays and/or wasn't disciplined. There was one game in particular, I think it was the LSU disaster (that game was the first real indicator of where our program was going for me) where a reverse was called with the ball going to Hester and he decided to throw the ball even though that was not the call or even an option.

I didn't follow his career with Chicago closely, but I thought they tried him at WR and he never made a big impact?
 
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I personally don't remember a guy who could hit top speed faster than Devin could. It's hard not to think about what he would have been if the staff hadn't swapped O and D so often, but it's hard to really be mad about anything when the man turned out to be the greatest of all time at the thing he was best suited for.

Best memory from college was the Peach Bowl vs. UF. I know it was only the 15 or so, but in my mind he started high stepping at about the 35.
 
nystateofmind said:
[video=youtube;Eew-sJXekBQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eew-sJXekBQ[/video]
Click to expand...

man the orange bowl getting hype vs a rival sends a chill up my spine like nothing else can


i miss the ol lady


and i miss the impactfulness of an alien
 
The Louisville game will remain one of my favorite games ever. Dude single handedly put is back in that game, through special teams play.
 
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DHucks said:
The Louisville game will remain one of my favorite games ever. Dude single handedly put is back in that game, through special teams play.
Click to expand...

That game was insane. I was on a work trip to London and had to follow it on on ESPN's animated play by play site (this was before the days of streaming) on a shared computer in the lobby of a hotel at 4 in the morning. I think the hotel employees at the front desk thought I was crazy, but man was that game fun to follow even if it was on a crappy play by play site.
 
GOAT

[video=youtube;bF6S0-A2UHg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF6S0-A2UHg[/video]

"Are you kiddin me?" -Classic

I still don that same style #4 jersey in orange.
 
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chicanego said:
As a Bear and Hurricane fan, nothing was more satisfying than seeing him dominate on Sundays.
Click to expand...

We're in the same boat, bruh! Really wished he played his entire career and retired as a Bear. Still mad at the ref during week 13 that took away the other return TD by a fluke holding call that would've set the record
 
Shogungts said:
"Underutilized at the U" - I am not sure if I agree with this.

Hester's return capabilities are/were incredible, but other than special teams, where has he excelled? Miami tried him on offense and on defense and he wasnt able to catch on. The knock was that he didn't know the plays and/or wasn't disciplined. There was one game in particular, I think it was the LSU disaster (that game was the first real indicator of where our program was going for me) where a reverse was called with the ball going to Hester and he decided to throw the ball even though that was not the call or even an option.

I didn't follow his career with Chicago closely, but I thought they tried him at WR and he never made a big impact?
Click to expand...

Bears couldn't really find another position for him either, but Lord what a kick returner. Imagine him today with the number of opportunities he would get to for KO returns-- of course no many punt returns. For my money, clearly best kick returner ever, although that criminole that could never cover Playmaker wasn't too bad.
 
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