Punting to the sideline is often very difficult, sometimes impossible. but the thing was, they were fine with that because it wasn’t giving up a touchdown.” This still might end up being a terrible change in field position. “Then I’ve got to have the conversation, ‘OK, if you want it to go out of bounds, it is probably only going to go 35 yards, and there is a chance it might go only 25,’” Kluwe says. But that’s not always as simple as it sounds. Kluwe says four of his special-teams coaches told him to kick it out of bounds against Hester. Plays like that are why most special-teams coaches insisted their punters not even risk Hester fielding a punt. Now that would have been an innovative way of neutralizing Hester. Said then-Vikings coach Brad Childress, “I felt like sticking my foot out and tripping him.” He just jukes through all of them, and pretty soon, he’s going down the sideline. “You see him catch the ball and start to go backward, and you’re like, OK, he is going to get tackled at the 1 or 2,” Kluwe says. Hester fielded it over his shoulder, and his momentum carried him to the 6-yard line before he took off for an 89-yard touchdown. He nailed it 54 yards to the left corner on the Bears’ 11. Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, who had three of his punts brought back for touchdowns by Hester, once thought he hit the perfect punt. The situational unpredictability of the punting game enhanced his vision, burst, long speed and explosiveness, making him his most dangerous. Touchdown.”įourteen of his special-teams touchdowns came on punt returns. “He dropped his head and went to the sideline,” Hester says. Hester challenged Panthers punter Jason Baker during a 2011 game, asking him if he was comfortable with 20-yard punts, and letting him know he was hurting his average. ‘What’s the game plan today? Y’all scared to kick it to me?’” Go stand by the punter and just look at him. “I’d catch a punt in pregame and jog right by the special-teams coach. Hester tried to appeal to his opponents’ pride to get them to kick to him. Hester said many opponents, including Ravens punter Sam Koch and 49ers kicker Robbie Gould, told him before games that he didn’t even have to wear his cleats because there was no way he would have a chance at a return.
#Kick it game pro#
Marinelli captured the prevailing philosophy on dealing with Hester, who is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. “Kick the ball into Lake Michigan and make sure that it floats to the bottom,” he said. Before their rematch at Soldier Field, Lions coach Rod Marinelli made it clear he didn’t want to risk a repeat. The first time the Bears and Lions played in 2007, Hester scored on a 97-yard kickoff return. In his second year, he topped it with six. Nevertheless, Hester scored five return touchdowns in the regular season as a rookie to set an NFL record. From that point on, opponents schemed against him as they schemed against no one else. In Hester’s first NFL game earlier that season, Jon Ryan of the Packers gave Hester a juicy 50-yard punt, and Hester brought it back 84 yards for a touchdown. In the regular season that year, Hester scored five return touchdowns - each contributing to a Bears victory. If Hester had not been a Bear, the Colts would have had a different opponent in the Super Bowl.
That Super Bowl was Hester’s 19th NFL game, and by then the book on Hester had been established - if he touches the ball, expect him to dance in the end zone. That game - as well as Hester’s career - was about forcing change. “I said, ‘He’ll never touch the ball again,” Dungy says. It was the quickest score in Super Bowl history and the only touchdown on an opening kickoff of a Super Bowl.ĭungy had seen enough. Hester fielded Adam Vinatieri’s kick near the left sideline at the 8-yard line and brought it back up the middle, eventually drifting to the right as he ran past the 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 before crossing the goal line as Matt Giordano dove at his feet. One of the greatest kick returners in NFL history.ĭevin Hester turns 37 today 🎈(via /n048h圎xAE We’re going to go right at him just like David did.’ “‘You go down there and pound Devin, they’ll know we mean business, and we’ll send a message. “I told them I hope we lose the toss, and if we do, we’re going to kick right down the middle,” he says. The night before the game, Dungy changed the plan. “Are we treating Devin Hester the way most people treated Goliath?” “So I started thinking, are we afraid?” Colts coach Tony Dungy says.
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