Former NFL kick returner Devin Hester is among the more intriguing Hall of Fame candidates for the class of 2022, as he tries to punch his ticket to Canton solely as a special teams player.
Some argue that Hester is the greatest return man of all time, but one former player argues that Hester was no better than himself.
Adam “Pacman” Jones recently made his own case for the Hall of Fame to TMZ Sports by pointing to how he stacks up compared to Hester.
“If you just go back and look at the history, who would be your top three, four returners from 2005 to 2017-18 season?” Jones asked. “If you look at the average per yard, how many times I’ve touched the ball, with even being suspended, I had more yards than Devin Hester if you look at the amount of times we touched the ball.”
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Throughout his 12-year career, Jones returned 125 kicks and averaged 25.9 yards per return, which is a full yard more than Hester, who averaged 24.9 yards per return on 295 returns over 12 years in the NFL.
Yet, Hester has Jones beat in every other category, including combined punt and kick return touchdowns with 21 compared to Jones’ five.
Jones, who is not eligible for the Hall of Fame until 2024, also never once had a season as impressive as Hester. His best year as a returner came in 2006 with the Titans when he had three punt return touchdowns and a combined 961 return yards.
That same year, Hester also had three punt return touchdowns and two kick return touchdowns, as well as 1,028 combined return yards, earning his first of three All-Pro honors.
Jones’ career was also marred by controversy, missing the entire 2007 season due to a suspension and all of the 2009 season after he was released by the Cowboys due to another off-the-field incident.
Yet, Jones feels despite all his off-field troubles, he is at least in the conversation as one of the great returners of all time.
“You know I had a lot of baggage that went along with me, but I got that out the way,” he said. “I truly feel that I was, if not No. 1 in returns, I got to be one or two. No less than three.”
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