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Worshipping at the Shrine of Devin Hester - The Best Kick Returner in NFL History

Written by Gotham Dark Knight

Thursday, 20 September 2007

{mosimage}Devin Hester is a god. Okay, maybe not in the same sense as the Almighty mind you, but he is deity nevertheless. Hester is blessed with super natural abilities that other mortals do not possess. Don't believe me, watch game film of his kick returns. Watch enough footage and you will come away with the same view that I have. Now, I am not saying that we need to start a cult to worship the man, I am sure some fool up in Chicago has already done that. What I am saying is that the man belongs right up there with the greats of the game when it comes to returning kicks in the NFL. Actually, I will go one better and say he is the best kick returner in the history of the NFL.

Now, I have to admit I was not around to witness Gale Sayers, the "Kansas Comet,"return kicks for the Chicago Bears back in the days of his rookie season. I also missed out on "Bullet" Bob Hayes, the world fastest human, do the same in Dallas during the mid sixties. But with a few exceptions here and there, I have seen some of the best kick returners in the NFL apply their craft over the past 20 or 30 years. Starting with the flamboyant Billy "White Shoes" Johnson in the 1970's, and his counterpart Rick Upchurch in Denver, I have seen some of the best come and go. I could easily add to the list Lynn Swann returning punts in Pittsburgh (early in his career), or some modern day immortals like Deion Sanders and Dante Hall. All of them electrifying returners whose moves were at times beyond description. But in the end, I think Hester tops the list.

Skeptical? Well, let's go over the body of evidence. It seems that every time I turn on the TV, I see him taking a punt or kick off return to the house. The man is a human highlight reel. I remember being away on a business trip last year, and catching the Bears-Cardinal game on TV. I watched Hester run past the entire Cardinal's team for an 83 yard touchdown. The touchdown turned out to be vital to the Bear's win that day, and Devin ended the game with 152 return yards, a Bears record. Against the Rams that year he scored on two kickoff returns in one game, again setting a Bear's kick return record in the process with 225 total yards. Then there was 108 yard return on a blown field goal against the New York Giants, a run I was also lucky to catch on TV. On that play, Hester hesitated for a second on the return to make the defense think he was not going to bring it out, then before the Giants knew what hit them, he was gone. Still not done after setting a league record with 6 returns for touchdowns during the regular season, Devin took the opening kickoff in the Super Bowl and scored yet again. By the end of the season, he had easily earned a spot on the Pro Bowl team as the best kick return specialist in the NFC.

This season Hester picked up where he last left off. In the second game of the season, against the Kansas City Chief, he returned a punt 73 yards for the score. Counting the touchdown in the Super Bowl, that's 8 touchdown returns in a little over 20 games. To put that amazing total in the proper context, Deion Sanders had 9 kick return touchdowns in his storied 14 year NFL career, and Dante Hall has only 11 in 99 games.

Clearly then, you begin to see what I mean. When you are returning kicks for touchdowns at almost a 2.5 to 1 ratio when compared to the "Human Joy Stick" Dante Hall, you must be a god of sort...and if not a god, at least the best kick returner in the history of the NFL. For all those wishing to join me, this week's services begin at 8:15 on NBC, when Chicago takes on Dallas.

Devin Hester Youtube Video

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Bugeatersteve said:

Although hard as this may be to believe, I agree with you up to a point on this one Dark Knight. Hester is by far the best retun man in the past 30 years. However I will still rank Gale Sayers as the best and Hester at 1A. I did see Sayers do it for real and the man was simply incredible as Hester is also. Why any coach (must be ego driven) in his right mind would kick the ball to Hester is beyond my comprehenson.

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September 20, 2007
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Gotham Dark Knight said:

	See, I would have given more props to Sayers...the man still holds some return records...but it was over too quick for the Kanasa Comet...I think when his career his through Hester might not leave anything open to debate.
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September 20, 2007
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JEH45 said:

	Bugeater must be really old!
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September 21, 2007
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Bugeatersteve said:

	Man JEH45 that is COLD : Actually I was but a "wee lad" of 10 when Gale was a rookie, but way into football with my dad. If not for a knee injury in like 1968 or 69, he would have been the first to rush for 2,000 in a season instead of OJ. He had like 900 yards with a 6 plus per carry average after 8 games in a 14 game season and then blew out his knee again.
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