On fourth and 12 from their 33-yard line, the Arizona Cardinals made the smart decision. They were up by six points with 3:17 left in the game. The Chicago Bears offense turned the ball over six times (three fumbles lost, three interceptions) and hadn't even accumulated 200 yards. Just punt the football, let the Bears burn down the clock, and go home with a win. The Bears' defense was the more likely unit to score points all night long, anyway.
Veteran punter Scott Player boomed a 50-yard punt to the Bears' 17-yard line, fielded by a rookie defensive back named Devin Hester. Within six seconds, the Bears held their first lead of the night.
Devin Hester, YOU ARE RIDICULOUS!
Devin Hester Heads to the Hall of Fame
In his third year of eligibility, Devin Hester has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as announced at Thursday's NFL Honors event. The famed Bears kick returner, punt returner, wide receiver, and defensive back was truly one of a kind and deserves recognition.
Hester holds the NFL record for regular-season special teams touchdowns (20). Additionally, he's the only player to ever return the opening kickoff of a Super Bowl for a touchdown. His production was unique, as were his roles on the team.
The volume stats on his kick and punt returns are extremely impressive. And the more you dive into the advanced data, the more impressive his production becomes. But the one thing that always stood out more than anything else with Hester was the timing of his impact returns.
I'm talking about moments like that 2006 game against the Cardinals. It started to feel normal to Bears fans, almost expected. So the best way to honor this man and his Hall of Fame announcement is to review a few of the best moments from his career, with all of them having massive impacts on the results of games.
Super Bowl XLI Opening Kickoff: Feb. 4, 2007
After two weeks of insisting that they would NOT kick to Devin Hester, the Indianapolis Colts shocked the world by... opening the Super Bowl by kicking the ball to Devin Hester. And he made them pay for it.
Adrian Peterson vs. Devin Hester: Oct. 14, 2007
This game was so ridiculous on both sides of the football. The Bears and Vikings went back and forth with home-run plays, and central to many of those plays were Devin Hester and Adrian Peterson. On the day, Hester generated 272 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns on 10 touches. Meanwhile, Peterson generated 361 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns on 26 touches.
Jump-Starting the Scoring vs. Green Bay: Sept. 27, 2010
Entering the fourth quarter at Soldier Field, the Bears trailed 7-10. The offense hadn't been able to get anything going despite an outstanding performance from Julius Peppers and the Bears' defense. But the Packers made the mistake of punting the football to Devin Hester, and he took it 62 yards to the house. The Bears went up 14-10 and won 20-17.
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