Three-time Pro Bowler Devin Hester was recently named as one of 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2022 induction class, joining former Texans receiver Andre Johnson and DeMarcus Ware of Dallas Cowboys fame as one of just three players eligible for the first time.
Hester’s Hall-of-Fame candidacy is unusual in that he was a specialist, failing to distinguish himself as a traditional player on either offense (wide receiver) or defense, beginning his career as a cornerback in 2006. The former Bear was essentially a one-trick pony, but you could argue he was better at his one trick—his 19 combined kickoff and punt return touchdowns are an NFL record—than any player in history. The only reason Hester doesn’t have more is because teams eventually stopped kicking to him, the NFL equivalent of the Barry Bonds treatment.
Hester’s NFL success was largely limited to special teams, but should that affect his legacy? Similar niche talents have had a hard time cracking Canton—only four kickers and one punter are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The 39-year-old may not check the usual boxes, but that shouldn’t disqualify him from HOF consideration, argues Deion Sanders, who served as a mentor to Hester throughout his career.
“It would be absurd if he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Sanders, now a coach at Jackson State University, said of Hester. “There’s no man that was feared more than Devin Hester with a ball in his hands on special teams. And that’s coming from me.”
Sanders was a similarly decorated return man, taking it to the house nine times (six punt and three kickoff return touchdowns) over 14 NFL seasons spent with Atlanta, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington and Baltimore. In many respects, Hester was the last of his kind, a relic of a bygone time when return specialists actually had a chance to impact games. To avoid dangerous collisions that could lead to concussions and other long-term injuries, the NFL has largely done away with kickoff returns (most kickoffs now are booted out of the end zone for a touchback), making it easy to envision a future without them.
Even if his name isn’t called Thursday night when the NFL announces its 2022 Hall of Fame Class, Hester should make it to Canton eventually. However, Hester says getting in on the first ballot is important to him, an honor that would leave no doubt about his place in NFL history. “First-ballot Hall of Famers are Hall of Famers that you have no question that they should be a Hall of Famer,” Hester expressed to Mitch Goldich of Sports Illustrated. “You think about the best of the best—best quarterbacks, best running backs, best receivers. I know we don’t have any [full-time] returners in the Hall of Fame, but I did things that have never been done before.”
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