Devin Hester Hall of Fame Return Specialist?

Where does the average drive begin when Hester is in the backfield to return a kickoff? How many of those are kicked out of bounds, touchbacks, kicked at an up-man to avoid Hester, etc.? How do all of these compare with every other kickoff returner the Bears have used since Hester broke into the league?

Same questions with punts.

Hester does have 19. 5 KO, 12 punt, 1 missed FG and the opening kickoff of the SB. Unless my math is off that makes 19. I guess they don’t count the post-season.

The current Bears are one of the few teams in NFL history to place such an emphasis on special teams. And most future NFL teams will continue to follow old practices. Devin is a special kind of talent, even on offense where he tends to let his talent do the thinking rather than his brain.

Devin Hester has changed the way teams play against the Chicago Bears. It’s his influence that allowed for that insane Knox punt return score that was called back. The Bears almost never have to worry about field position because of his influence. I’ve never seen any other team play where the crowd stands up and goes crazy just because the opponent’s punt team or KO team enters the field. And this is Home AND Away games.

As long as he continues to be Devin Hester, he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Even if all he does is return kicks for the remainder of his career. I think Lawrence Holmes said it best last season: He changes gameplans, defenses, offenses, everything about the game. Mostly because of him, Special Teams has become a valid, legitimate factor in any Head Football coach’s thoughts. Do we kick it to him and risk giving up a quick 6? Do we kick it short, giving the opposing offense a drastically shorter field, thus making it even harder on our defense? All this is because Devin Hester is ridiculous.

the bears will win the super bowl this year.

You put the Hall of Fame voters in the stands when the bears are down two touchdowns with 14 minutes to go in the game and the opposing team is punting to Devin Hester. Let them see and feel what it is like to have a player on your team that at any given moment can change the landscape of a game. Let them experience the excitement in the crowd. Let them enjoy the idea that as long as Hester has the ball in his hands, there’s a chance for the ridiculous. There are very few players that have that talent now or ever.

Hall of Famer.

- Is the best returner ever
- Changes game plans every week
- Can change the game at anytime
- Forces kickers and linters to go short giving bears the advantage in field position
- Scares coaches into not kicking long field goals because if they miss something ridiculous might happen

How is it even debatable. Even besides the stats, he has a huge influence on the game. Also it is the hall of FAME. I’m pretty sure everyone knows who the windy city flyer. When you think of special teams you think Devin Hester and when someone is known as the best at 1/3 of the game how is he not guaranteed a spot in Canton? /end rant

YES! Devin Hester HOF!

I think if you look at the difference in field position created by the best punter vs. the median punter of his time, it wouldn’t be very many yards (it isn’t just how far the punt went, but what kind of return the punt had, which depends on the coverage team, and whether the other team was pinned inside the 20, so situation matters as well).

Place kickers could use the same metric to measure kickoff performance, but judging FG kicking is different. At least today, everyone is pretty accurate within about 45 yards (depending on conditions), and teams won’t generally take chances taking kicks longer than about 50 yards unless it is right at the end of the half (for fear of giving up field position). I really have no idea how many more drives per game fall outside of that 45 yard range, or how accurate the kicker has to be at the longer distances to make attempting a kick worthwhile, to put a number on how valuable the long distance kickers are. Is the best kicker worth a point or two per game over the median kicker?

(I don’t think being a clutch kicker is enough to warrant too many accolades. The hall of fame is for consistent greatness, not just big game greatness.)

I believe Devin Hester and his returns/threat of returns, is worth more in field position vs. the median kick returner than the best punter. If Hester is getting 3 returns per season, he is worth more than a point per game.

It would make sense for him to make the Hall of Fame before punters and kickers, because Devin Hester is more valuable than the best punter and kicker combined.

…I see him making it. Jan Stenerud only hit about two thirds of his FGs. The Chiefs themselves had Nick Lowery later. He hit 80 per cent plus. So why Stenerud? Historic significance and single season accomplishments I think. (Others helped establish this but with Stenerud, the “soccer” style kicker was here to stay.)

What return man has ever matched the multiple TDs Hester has scored in single years? I think he’d have more such seasons if the Bears hadn’t diverted his attention by putting him at wide receiver.

And for historic significance—just watch. He’s not done.

The game of football is about field position. That’s all it really is. All the fancy plays and technical defenses are all designed for one reason… to gain field position. The more position you gain, the better chance you have to score. Devin Hester effects field position as much as any player in NFL history.

I disagree with this stance that he has to do more or needs to reach some arbitrary number to get in the HOF. What number? What metric? He IS the metric. Anything and everything he’s done to this point is his career has been historic. He’s writing history every time he touches the ball. He’s the Babe Ruth of his position, who’s job dictates the most important aspect of the game of football…Field position.

The question should no longer be if Devin is a HOFer, the question should be how he stacks up with the greatest players of all time. Because that’s what he is. He’s as historic as Payton, Jim Brown, Jerry Rice, Dick Butkus, or any of the immortals of the game. Anything short of that is not devaluing Hester but devaluing what any individual personally feels about the KR position.