Devin Hester Announces Retirement

[Shanedorf]

29 minutes ago, Boltstrikes said:

If 19 plays in his career are hall of fame worthy

I don't think he makes it in either, but he impacted every single punt, not just the ones he took to the house. Teams were willing to accept a crappy punt and give up field position just to avoid giving him a chance. Lovie's bears were not a talented offense, but they rode STs and defense to the SB - in part because of what Hester brought to the table. Still not HOF worthy imo

Here's a pro-Hester article from Chicago, interesting read and they make some good points:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-devin-hester-biggs-20171212-story.html

"ST coach Toub was quick to credit general manager Jerry Angelo and coach Lovie Smith for investing a second-round pick in Hester at a time when return specialists were only late-round considerations.

“Nobody thought that way,” Toub said. “They end up taking Devin and now everybody has to have a returner. It’s a normal thing now, if a guy has great return skills, that will kick him up one or two rounds in the draft because everybody has to have that special guy because of Devin. That’s another way he changed the game. Everybody has got to have that special returner, and everyone has to have the gunners. It moved special teams to another level, the focus on special teams and how important they are and how they can affect the game.”

[Kiwibrown]

He is the GOAT returner he played well in the playoff and Super Bowl. HOF. 

[BayRaider]

There was a 3 or 4 year period in Chicago this man could not be stopped. Heck, the #1 seed Bears in 2006 scored with Devin Hester and Defensive Turnovers. The GOAT Returner.

HoF though...? Nah, let's not get carried away. Returner is not an actual position and he sucked at CB and was below average as a WR. 

HoF is about consistentcy. Returners don't develop consistency. You make a big play here and there. 

[Shanedorf]

You can break this down into 2 questions

1) Does the KR/PR position deserve a spot in the HOF ?

2) Was Hester worthy of earning that spot ?

[Jeezy Fanatic]

Hester was the greatest of all time at his "position" of KR/PR and owns pretty much every record in the book for that. I'd rather have someone in the Hall of Fame that was a generational player at one thing, then a guy that was consistently the 3rd or 4th best player at his position for many years.

[MWil23]

I mean, I guess my question is, where do you draw the line?

For the "best at his position" argument:

Steve Tasker is a 7 time Pro Bowler and easily the best special teams player of all time, and he's not in the Hall of Fame and contributed MAJORLY to all of those late 80s/early 90s Bills teams that went to 4 straight Super Bowls.

[Jeezy Fanatic]

3 minutes ago, Jeezy Fanatic said:

Hester was the greatest of all time at his "position" of KR/PR and owns pretty much every record in the book for that. I'd rather have someone in the Hall of Fame that was a generational player at one thing, then a guy that was consistently the 3rd or 4th best player at his position for many years.

Sorry to double post, but to put it in a clearer way, if you look throughout the history of the game of football, you cannot name someone better at this facet of the game of football. Of the thousands of players who have returned kicks, none have done it as well as Devin Hester. He was better than all his peers at his position, and to me that should be HoF worthy, and I think it ultimately will be.

 

[MWil23]

Just now, Jeezy Fanatic said:

Sorry to double post, but to put it in a clearer way, if you look throughout the history of the game of football, you cannot name someone better at this facet of the game of football. Of the thousands of players who have returned kicks, none have done it as well as Devin Hester. He was better than all his peers at his position, and to me that should be HoF worthy, and I think it ultimately will be.

 

I would argue that he's not the BEST, but that he's the MOST PRODUCTIVE. A lot of guys were just as good, whether it's Gale Sayers, Deion Sanders, Eric Metcalf, or even Antonio Brown. The hard part is that they were so valuable in other positions they were removed from this.

Guys like Dante Hall and Devin Hester had very minimal value on offense at the WR position and were little more than deep threats/average at best slot guys.

[Forge]

Just now, MWil23 said:

I mean, I guess my question is, where do you draw the line?

For the "best at his position" argument:

Steve Tasker is a 7 time Pro Bowler and easily the best special teams player of all time, and he's not in the Hall of Fame and contributed MAJORLY to all of those late 80s/early 90s Bills teams that went to 4 straight Super Bowls.

Tasker was a guy I thought about as well...but did Tasker affect the game the way that Hester did? No doubt that he was great at what he did, but teams didn't really have to plan around him. So I guess that would be my line.  I figured it was a little more like, "return the punt, try not to get tackled by Tasker". With Hester, you had legitimate game planning questions. Teams would be willing to kick short, high punts and give up field position just to avoid him thus affecting field position.  Hester gave you over a yard more per return on punts than the greatest returners of all time - Mitchell, Hall, Sanders, etc. Same on kick returns. I know it's not a lot, but it's worth noting. That's not a small amount. 

[MWil23]

9 minutes ago, Forge said:

Tasker was a guy I thought about as well...but did Tasker affect the game the way that Hester did? No doubt that he was great at what he did, but teams didn't really have to plan around him.

He forced 13 fumbles (7 fumbles recovered) in this 7 year Pro Bowl period of time. He also recorded a safety. Did he impact it in the same way...yes and no. He flipped field position, almost completely locked down opponents on punts, and counted for at least 7 extra possessions (plus another in a safety) in opponent's territory. If you were foolish enough not to fair-catch against the Bills,' he'd make you pay.

9 minutes ago, Forge said:

So I guess that would be my line.  I figured it was a little more like, "return the punt, try not to get tackled by Tasker".

As stated above, more like "if there's any doubt, fair-catch the ball".

9 minutes ago, Forge said:

With Hester, you had legitimate game planning questions. Teams would be willing to kick short, high punts and give up field position just to avoid him thus affecting field position. 

See above for field possession argument in a converse nature.

9 minutes ago, Forge said:

Hester gave you over a yard more per return on punts than the greatest returners of all time - Mitchell, Hall, Sanders, etc. Same on kick returns. I know it's not a lot, but it's worth noting. That's not a small amount. 

Very fair. Similarly, Tasker forced and recovered more fumbles on special teams, not to mention all of these open field tackles, limiting these return yards, etc.

Let's be honest, there's only ONE WAY to solve this:

3 punts to Devin Hester with Steve Tasker on punt coverage and each gets an average punt and punt return unit. May the best man win. It's my version of Celebrity Deathmatch.

[Forge]

Just now, MWil23 said:

 

Let's be honest, there's only ONE WAY to solve this:

3 punts to Devin Hester with Steve Tasker on punt coverage and each gets an average punt and punt return unit. May the best man win. It's my version of Celebrity Deathmatch.

Yes. Absolutely yes LOL. 

[ET80]

Just now, MWil23 said:

3 punts to Devin Hester with Steve Tasker on punt coverage and each gets an average punt and punt return unit. May the best man win. It's my version of Celebrity Deathmatch.

Oh, this would be fun to watch.

[the lone star]

Mitchell should definitely be in though tbh.

[rudyZ]

On 12/14/2017 at 12:26 PM, MWil23 said:

I guess my question is, where do you draw the line?

What's the real need for any line? Again, it's the second time I ask, does it really matter that someone who doesn't deserve it according to one person's opinion makes it into the HoF? Is it really that important? Does it taint the legacy of others who unanimously belong to the HoF? To me, it doesn't. So loosen up the rules, I don't care. The debate as to whether TO should or shouldn't be in the HoF are ridiculous. He made the game greater with his presence, he deserves it. Hester made the game greater with his presence, let him in. If he doesn't meet someone else's criteria, who cares? Is it really all that important?

[Kip Smithers]

On 14/12/2017 at 1:38 AM, Boltstrikes said:

If 19 plays in his career are hall of fame worthy then you are opening the door wide open to the hall of fame. No he doesn’t deserve to be in. That’s like Flutie deserving to go in because he drop kicked an extra point. Just not enough impact he was a great player at his position but that position doesn’t have enough impact to warrant hall consideration. 

This is a rather overly simplistic way to view him. Let’s not act that TDs are the only thing that matters.