Devin Hester, Chicago Bears record return player, fails first bid for Pro Football Hall of Fame – Orange County Register

Devin Hester’s entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame is still very likely to happen. That glory will not come this year.

In his first year of qualifying for the Hall, the Chicago Bears’ record returnee was not voted to be housed in Canton, Ohio, the news became official Thursday night. His candidacy will take place in 2023.

This year’s Hall of Fame class was officially announced Thursday at the NFL Honors honors ceremony at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. The five modern-day players introduced are Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler, the late Sam Mills, Richard Seymour and Bryant Young.

Young starred at Bloom High School in Chicago Heights before becoming the All-American at Notre Dame.

Additionally, senior candidate Cliff Branch, contributor/arbiter Art McNally and coach Dick Vermeil were elected.

Hester, who played eight of his first 11 NFL seasons with the Bears, was one of 10 Hall finalists for his bubble to burst. The others are Jared Allen, T Bug Holt, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, DeMarcus Ware, Patrick Willis, Willie Anderson, Ronde Barber, Zach Thomas.

Hester has been open about how important a place in the Hall would be.

“Honestly, it really means a lot to the world for me to be a Hall of Fame,” he told the Tribune in 2019. “It’s what I look forward to. I hope I make it. I pray I make it. That would be the icing on the cake for my career. ”

However, that freeze will have to wait at least another year.

Hester set career NFL records for touchdowns with 20, 14 total return points and five TDs return tees while adding one missed goal return at distance 108 yards.

He burst onto the scene as a Bears rookie in 2006 with five back-to-back touchdowns in the regular season, including an 83-yard lead in turn in the game. Bears’ legendary 24-23 comeback win against the Arizona Cardinals on “Monday Night Football.”

It was an exceptional victory for the Bears in their most successful season of the 21st century, a championship campaign that ended when they faced the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI in Miami Gardens, Fla. Hester opened that game with more fireworks, becoming the first – and still the only – player in Super Bowl history to return to the opening game for a beat. That score is 92 yards and is considered one of the most iconic plays in franchise history.

As the Bears began their 100th season in 2019, the Tribune ranked Hester’s Super Bowl return match as the 7th moment in Bears history.

Coach Tony Dungy, who dared to kick Hester to start that Super Bowl, believes Hester deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.

“I’ve seen a lot of dangerous comebacks during my 30 years in the NFL,” Dungy told the Tribune in 2019. “But Devin is a guy you probably know from Week 5 of his rookie. about how special he really is. And he can still do it year after year, over and over. He’s so dangerous. He’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime guys. And I’ve always thought that if you’re the best at what you do, if you’re dominant in your position, you need to be in the Hall of Fame. ”

Adds former Colts player Adam Vinatieri, whose Hall of Fame eligibility will begin in 2025: “He’s completely in the Hall of Fame. Without a doubt. He changed the game. Are you telling me he’s not as important to his team as anyone else has played in the league? … In my mind, the Hall of Fame is for the people who changed the league and did special things that other people couldn’t do. He is that person. One hundred percent. If I had one vote, I would vote 100% for him.”

Hester, person Named the greatest Bears player of all time number 19 by the Tribune in 2019, was a first-team All-Pro in 2006, 2007 and 2010 while winning second-team titles in 2011. He averaged 11.7 yards per return in his career. himself, ranked as the fourth-best average during the Super Bowl Era. He also set the Bears’ one-match record for starting yards in the second leg in Week 2 of 2013 with 249 yards.

While many debate professional players’ nomination for the Hall of Fame, it’s also important to note that Hester has become a major part of the Bears’ offense, transforming from a corner into a receiver and a total of 255 catches, 3,311 yards and 16 touchdowns in his career. .

Hester has been named to the NFL’s All Decades Team twice, in the years 2000 and 2010. He has also been included in the NFL’s 1Celebrating the 00th Anniversary of the All-Time Team in 2019.

Those familiar with the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s selection process believe that Hester still has a great chance of earning a place in the coming years. Current selection rules limit each Hall of Fame class to five modern-day players.

The fact that Hester became one of 15 modern day finalists in his first year of qualifying is a strong statement. He’s the one who almost made it to the list of about two dozen semi-finalists to be premiered next fall. And when that pool is reduced to 15 finalists again in January, Hester’s case will reopen formal discussion to the 49-member Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee, which includes one Media representation from the cities of each NFL franchise plus 17 major selectors.

The Bears Foundation has 30 representatives in the Hall of Fame – the most of any franchise – with Jimbo Covert, Ed Sprinkle and Brian Urlacher as most recently introduced. Despite this year’s disappointment, Hester hopes to be part of that fraternity soon.

After leaving Chicago in 2014, Hester played 21 games over two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons and ended his career briefly with the Seattle Seahawks in 2016. In April 2018, he signed a one-day contract with the Bears to officially retire from the organization that selected him for the second round in 2006.

“The one who comes back the most in game history is the Bear,” team president George McCaskey said that day. “We are very proud of that and we are proud of Devin.”

Hester expressed his pride as well as thanked many of his Bears teammates for helping him rise.

“It’s been amazing to be part of a group where every time I step on the field these people say, ‘Please follow me, I’ve got your support,’” Hester said. It is an honor and privilege to be in this family. ”

https://www.ocregister.com/2022/02/13/devin-hester-the-record-breaking-chicago-bears-return-man-falls-short-in-his-1st-bid-for-the-pro-football-hall-of-fame-2/ Devin Hester, Chicago Bears record return player, fails first bid for Pro Football Hall of Fame – Orange County Register

Huynh Nguyen

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