[CBFF] My Sportsman: Devin Hester

[Steve Behrens]

Question:  Does anyone else on the list feel the secondary kick
rec's/blockers (those immediately in front of Hester on kicks) should try to
lateral back the Devin when they field a squib or short kick?  Most of those
could easily be lateraled back, giving our best option more touches.

Just think if Hester scores on a couple of lateraled returns.... what the
hell are the opponents going to do then?  On-sides kick every down?  Kick it
out of bounds every down?    It needs to be tried, and I think if Hester
goes a couple of games without seeing any kick returns, you'll start seeing
some laterals...

-Behr


On 11/26/07, Kenny Claxton <kenny.claxton at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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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> >
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