[CBFF] CT - Hurricane deals Hester a new hand

[NEWS ARTICLE]

Hurricane deals Hester a new hand
Forgoes final year at Miami after storm ruins mom's
home
By John Mullin
Tribune staff reporter

May 5, 2006, 10:33 PM CDT

Sometimes life's biggest decisions get made for you.

Rookie defensive back Devin Hester planned on being a
Miami Hurricane for one more year. Instead, a real
hurricane struck his mother's home in West Palm Beach,
Fla., and the needs of his family suddenly were more
pressing than college football.

Hester entered the NFL draft and became the Bears'
second second-round selection last Saturday and he
already knows where he wants some of his signing bonus
to go.

"I thought I could help my Mom out after the hurricane
and my sister is going to have a baby," Hester said,
recounting how a tree came through the house and water
damaged just about everything the family owned.

Whatever his motivation, Hester got his NFL career off
to an excellent start Friday. He sat right up in the
front row at meetings and "you like to see that, when
a young guy really wants to learn," special teams
coordinator Dave Toub said.

The winds were swirling at the first afternoon of
rookie mini-camp practice, but Hester and other
returners did a good job catching the ball.

"We're going to know if he can do it," said Toub, who
has no reservations entrusting the return job to a
rookie. "By the time we get to the first game, we'll
know it."

Hester played multiple positions on offense and
defense at Miami in addition to special teams. Friday
began his work with Bears secondary coach Steven Wilks
and assistant Gil Byrd, who went to two Pro Bowls for
the San Diego Chargers and retired as their all-time
interceptions leader (42).

Oh, behave

Safety Chris Harris was escorted out of the United
Center for what was deemed unacceptable vocal conduct
toward Miami Heat players during the Bulls-Heat
playoff game Thursday night.

"Sometimes you can support your team a little too
much," Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "I hope no damage
was done. We realize how it is to be on the field
competing with fans behind you heckling you. Our Bulls
had a great year and hopefully next year we can go a
little bit further."

Familiar name

Tight end Tim Day, signed as an undrafted free agent
after teams passed on him in the draft because of his
injury history, had some experience with an NFL
offensive coordinator while at Oregon. Former Bears
offensive coach Gary Crowton was brought in last
season to make over the offense, which helped the
Beavers reach the Holiday Bowl but didn't necessarily
benefit Day directly.

Crowton's offense does not use the tight end
extensively and Day's production dipped in his last
season.

"Gary was a great guy," Day said, and then laughed.
"He didn't use the tight end a lot but is still a
great guy. He tried different ways to get me the ball
because he knew I was very productive.

"He really ran kind of a spread offense, which was
really good for college, very deceiving, the ball
looking like it's going this way but it's really going
that way. And it worked. We went to a bowl game."

Looking back

The Bears signed former Houston Texans running back
Tony Hollings to a two-year contract Friday, giving
the team an additional veteran running back. Hollings
was a second-round pick in the 2003 supplemental draft
out of Georgia Tech but totaled just 149 career yards
on 49 carries and caught just seven passes for 71
yards. He appeared in only two games with the Texans
last season.

jmullin at tribune.com

Copyright © 2006, The Chicago Tribune


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com