During his Hall of Fame induction acceptance speech this weekend, Devin Hester said something we can all get on board with: Brian Mitchell deserves to be in the Hall, for all he did to bring the return game to prominence and for how good he was at it.
“I hope me being here today opens up the doors and brings some attention to other guys, like Brian Mitchell and Josh Cribbs, because I'm not the only returner who deserved to be in the Hall of Fame,” Hester said. “I’m just the first.”
Brian’s phone blew up when that was said, and as he noted Monday, ‘I was driving and I was like, something has happened, because I don't ever get that many calls or texts back-to-back like that.’
So what does B think of Devin’s dap, now and as he found out about it?
“I don't expect anyone to really take the shine off of themselves in that moment, and for him to do it, I just thought, I tip my hat to him,” Brian said. “Sometimes, you just need a person...I remember when they voted him in, my daughter was immediately saying this is gonna be better for me. For him to come back with that, it may put a brighter light on the position.”
Of course there was some social media backlash that Brian ignored, only saying “do some research” to the naysayers, but it’s not just Hester who will shine light on special teams being so important to the game, important enough to warrant more Hall of Famers.
“When Belichick goes into the Hall in five years, I think he will absolutely make a point to talk about special teams, because Belichick's the one that's kind of floated there being a special teams-only supplemental class to fix the disparity of special teamers being in there,” JP said. “Brian will be eligible for the Veteran’s Committee in 2028, and I fully expect to create an onslaught of momentum on our own as that gets nearer.”
JP also thought it was nice for Hester to mention BMitch and Cribbs in his moment, and it’s part of a ‘shifting focus on what should be.’
“Yeah, but the thing is the people that actually vote on it, they need to talk to the people that actually coached the game, because you start to hear people outside of the media guys that get that opportunity, making comments that don’t make much sense whatsoever,” Brian said. “One was trying to tell me special teams didn't really matter until Devin came around, and I’m like, where the hell have you been, under a rock? That 1991 team we had, and why people consider them the best team ever, we won the Super Bowl and special teams had a big part in that whole year.”
“In a game that’s all about explosive plays, some of the most explosive come from special teams,” JP replied. “I understand all anybody cares about are passing numbers anymore, but there's just so much more to winning a game of football. As someone that is completely ancillary in all of this, I just thought it was really, really cool for Hester to say that, and I enjoyed it a lot.”