Devin Hester Plans To Retire After End of the Season

Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Charles Tillman were some of the favorites for Chicago Bears fans over the past two decades. However, it's fair to say that none of them could leave people breathless quite like Devin Hester could. The former second round pick from Miami was a virtual unknown when he first stepped on that cool Lambeau Field grass for his rookie debut in 2006. Then he returned a punt for a touchdown. Eleven years later and the man still keeps finding ways to bring football fans to their feet. His performance in the divisional round against Atlanta was a perfect example. He produced several long returns in the game. Unfortunately most of them were negates by untimely penalties by his teammates. https://twitter.com/FantasyFlurry/status/820397024302563328 It no doubt brought a small tear to the eyes of Bears fans everywhere who still long to see him do that just one more time in navy blue. Sadly they may never get to see him to it again. Not based on a recent revelation courtesy of Seahawks beat writer Gregg Bell. https://twitter.com/gbellseattle/status/820451279797440516 If this is the case then the conversations will soon shift to the inevitable next debate. Is Hester a future Pro Football Hall of Famer? Don't bother asking Bears fans. Their answer would be a universal "YES!" However, it's important to take an honest look. The mark of a Hall of Fame player is did they change the game by their play and by their presence on the football field. It's hard to argue against what Hester accomplished in that regard. Teams grew to fear him so much that they favored kicking the ball out of bounds and losing field position just to avoid the possibility he might take it back to the house. [video width="854" height="480" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Devin-Hester-Broncos.mp4"][/video] All told for his career Hester has produced 20 kick or punt return touchdowns. During that same time he's averaged 11.73 yards per punt returned and 24.85 yards per kick returned. That is a substantial impact not just on the scoreboard but on field position. In fact three best seasons the Bears have had since 2006, each of which involved a winning record, were his three best seasons as a returner in Chicago. He is unquestionably the best to ever play his position by a wide margin. If that doesn't make a Hall of Fame case, nothing does.