Chicago Bears’ Devin Hester will go down in history as football’s greatest returner, becoming the first inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The special teams savant holds the NFL record for career return touchdowns (20), kick return touchdowns (19), and punt return touchdowns (14).
Hester took the podium at the induction ceremony in Canton on Saturday, and part of his speech reminded sports fans of baseball legend Ricky Henderson’s famous “greatest of all time” regarding his impeccable base-stealing abilities. Hester’s words weren’t verbatim to Henderson’s, but they were close enough to remind everyone of Devin’s elite GOAT status regarding the greatest NFL returner the game has ever seen.
“I accepted my calling that God had in store for me, and by me embracing it, it made me the best returner that ever walked the face of the earth. At least as of right now,” he said, per NBC Sports.
The NFL's ‘Devin Hester Rule'
Devin Hester understood his unique skill set in the NFL from the start of his career. After the Chicago Bears drafted him in the second round of the 2006 draft, he dedicated his life to changing that perception. Thus, the league implemented a new rule that Hester feels responsible for.
“When I first exploded on the professional scene, there was a lot of negativity because people didn’t respect the return game,” Hester said. “But eventually, it got to the point where they put in a new rule — which was called, you guys know, the Devin Hester rule — to move the kickoff up, so it made it easy for the kicker to kick it out end zone, which eliminated me from getting a lot of returns. So, I guess the NFL had started taking the return game seriously.
“I hope that me being here today opens the door and brings some attention to other guys like Brian Mitchell and Josh Cribbs. I’m not the only returner who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame—I’m just the first.”
The four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro, who returned the opening kick in Super Bowl XLI for a 92-yard touchdown, fell in love with the game at a young age. He had dreams of becoming a running back but will enter Canton’s Pro Football Hall of Fame as the game’s greatest returner instead.
“I fell in love with football back when I first started playing two-hand touch in the streets,” Hester said, per NBC Sports. “As young kids, we couldn’t kick the ball too far, so we would throw it high and make it look like it was a kickoff. And every time they would throw the ball off, out of 10 times, I would take about seven of them back.”
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