The controversial reason why Bears great Devin Hester was not a first-ballot Hall of Famer

After a quick glance at the NFL record books, it would be difficult to name a return specialist who had a more profound impact on the game than former Chicago Bears great Devin Hester.

After all, he holds the NFL record for the most career special teams touchdowns with 20 — 14 punt returns, five kick returns, one blocked field goal — and the single-season records for return touchdowns (six) and punt-return touchdowns (four).

So, it’s no surprise that the 39-year-old Hester was taken back by the nature of a February phone call he had with the president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee.

“They said they were never put in a position like this when it came to the category of the position I played as a special teams guy and how they viewed me when it came to this vote,” Hester recently told the Chicago Tribune. “So, he said, ‘We know most definitely you’re going to get in.’

“But it was just so hard for the committee to solidify me as a Hall of Famer in my first year of eligibility just because of the special teams tag I have on my name. They just didn’t know how to present it and didn’t know whether I was worthy of being classified as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He told me I was for sure going to make the Hall of Fame eventually.”

Hester’s special teams resume is as good as any.

He was a four-time All-Pro selection, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, a three-time NFL Alumni Special Teams Player of the Year, and he was named to two NFL All-Decade Teams and was one of two return specialists named to the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Hester ranks third all-time in punt return yards (3,695) and 12th all-time in kick return yardage (7,333). His 315 career punt returns are also the fifth-most in NFL history, and there are only seven other players with more combined career kick and punt-return yardage than Hester’s 11,028 yards.

“I know I’m a special teams guy,” Hester continued. “I know I’m a kickoff and punt returner. But at the end of the day, do you look at me as the best to ever do it? Do you consider that you’re passing up the best to ever do it at that position? And I’m not knocking any other guys. But do you put the 27th best safety in the Hall of Fame? Do you put the 34th best running back in the Hall of Fame? The Hall of Fame has to have (a standard) that emphasizes the greatness of all, the best of all time. And regardless of what position you were at.”

If the selection committee stays true to its word, it shouldn’t be long before Hester transitions from the first return specialist named a Hall of Fame finalist to the first to put on a gold jacket.