Bears' special teams star joins Devin Hester in winning prestigious NFL award

On the Chicago Bears' prestigious list of special teams stars that aren't kickers, there is Devin Hester ... and now Josh Blackwell.

Joining the Hall-of-Fame kick returner as the Bears' only non-kicker to win the award multiple times, Blackwell has been named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. His diving, deflected block of a potential game-winning field goal with :33 remaining preserved the Bears' dramatic 25-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday.

Hester won NFC Special Teams Player of the Week a whopping 13, was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 2000s and was inducted into Canton in 2024.

"I'm blessed to even be considered in that regard," Blackwell told ChicagoBears.com. "That's pretty incredible. My generation looked up to guys like Hester, so to even be in the same conversation, that's pretty cool."

This is the second time Blackwell has won the award, including last year's season finale in Green Bay when he returned a punt 94 yards on a trick play in a victory over the Packers.

"It's a huge honor," Blackwell said. "It's special, but I also feel like it's a testament to the team that we have and it's just the trust that we have in each other and the goals that we can share together."

Bears' special teams coach Richard Hightower apparently predicted Blackwell's block, which got an assist from long-snapper Scott Daly's tip that the Raiders' long-snapper moved the ball right before snapping it.