[CBFF] My Sportsman: Devin Hester

[Kenny Claxton]

I can guarantee you Coughlin kicks away from him this weekend.

On 11/26/07, Phil DeNomme <pdenomme at gmail.com> wrote:
> How many does he have this year alone?  5 or 6?  I think he has one every 5
> chances he gets.  I might have to check in to that....
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com
> [mailto:cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Gertsen
> Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 12:50 PM
> To: Bears
> Subject: [CBFF] My Sportsman: Devin Hester
>
> My Sportsman: Devin Hester
> In a bearish season, a star shines brightly in Chicago
> Posted: Sunday November 25, 2007 8:28PM; Updated: Sunday November 25, 2007
> 8:28PM
>
> By Adam Duerson
>
> Sports Illustrated will announce its choice for Sportsman of the Year on
> Dec. 3. Here's one of the nominations for that honor by an SI writer. For
> more essays, click here.
>
> One of the greatest obstacles facing the modern athlete is the heap of
> expectations he or she creates through performance. Mediocrity can be
> acceptable until you have flashed brilliance. Then there is no turning back.
>
> For Devin Hester, my 2007 Sportsman of the Year, such expectations come
> daily following a brilliant rookie campaign in which he obliterated the NFL
> record for return touchdowns. He had six. No other player had ever notched
> more than four.
>
> As 2007 set in, Hester added a seventh return score in the opening moments
> of Super Bowl XLI. Lesson learned, Indianapolis kicked away from him on five
>
> subsequent occasions. The Bears lost, but in doing so, they saw the light:
> They needed to get the ball to Hester even more -- preferably at wide
> receiver.
>
> So began Hester's and the Bears' season of expectations. Of course, it
> started with a steady dose of cynicism. Hester wouldn't fit in at receiver
> right away, critics said. His gaudy return stats would sag, and the Bears
> wouldn't repeat their 13-3 record. Only one third of that has proved to be
> correct.
>
> Opponents have wisely kicked away from Hester nearly 45 percent of the time
> this year, yet he is the lone upside of a dreary season in Chicago. He has
> five scores on returns, which put him on pace to pass Brian Mitchell's
> career return touchdown record (13) later this season. (It took Mitchell 14
> seasons to set his mark). Hester has scored more often than any other Bears
> receiver or running back and accounted for 14 percent of the team's total
> points.
>
> A lesser man might snap. Put yourself in Hester's shoes Oct. 14: You've
> already scored on a zig-zagging 89-yard punt return against the Vikings, but
>
> when the fourth quarter rolls around your team trails by seven. So you do
> what you do best, run like hell, right underneath Brian Griese's 81-yard
> bomb. You're in the middle of a chest bump when you notice Minnesota's
> Adrian Peterson has taken the subsequent kickoff 53 yards. The Bears lose
> 34-31. There was the Week 2 game against Kansas City, which you would have
> won single-handedly had the second of your two return scores not been called
>
> back for holding. There was the 97-yard fourth-quarter kick return against
> Detroit on Sept. 30 that would have been the game-winner, if only Chicago
> played defense. Most recently, there was Sunday's game against Denver, in
> which the second of your two touchdown returns was immediately offset by a
> 68-yard touchdown reception by Denver's Brandon Marshall. Groan. Had your
> team not won 37-34 in overtime, you might be tempted to alert quarterback
> Rex Grossman that your 232 return yards surpassed his passing yards by
> nearly 40.
>
> I had the chance to ask Hester about these situations earlier this month.
> "This has to be driving you nuts, right?" I said. "Nuts," he said. "I only
> wish I could do more. It's so frustrating, and I feel like it's my fault,
> like I studied all week long for a huge exam and just got a C." The guy is
> the best player on his team and he feels like it's his fault. There's not a
> T.O. bone in his body.
>
> There's a popular rumor in Chicago these days that has Eagles' quarterback
> Donovan McNabb -- allegedly one of the most sincere and focused guys in
> sports -- going to Chicago through free agency. If McNabb ever gets there,
> there's a certain Sportsman of the Year he'll be happy to work with.
>
>
>
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