Folks say Father Time catches up with everybody.
Possibly so. However as Devin Hurst was launched onto the sector earlier than Thursday’s Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame recreation in Canton, Ohio, I swear I heard Father Time gasp far behind and Make a vow to your self as you attempt to sustain.
Hester is essentially the most dynamic kick returner in NFL historical past at 41 years outdated. However when he stepped onto the courtroom carrying a white polo shirt with the Corridor of Fame emblem on the chest, he appeared nonetheless in his 20s.
He gave a salute that changed into a peace signal. He shook his proper hand, and the gold bracelet sparkled. There did not appear to be a single grey hair on his head or beard.
Would anybody be stunned if he kicked off the sport at dwelling?
Hester will probably be one in all them when he’s formally inducted into the Corridor of Fame this weekend. There isn’t a different inductee like him.
The previous Miami Hurricanes standout actually modified the sport. Sure, he performed extensive receiver and cornerback in faculty, nevertheless it was on particular groups the place he shined.
Bears followers will always remember his tenure with the crew from 2006-13. He performed just a few extra seasons in Atlanta and Baltimore after that, however he’ll perpetually be related together with his thrilling return to Chicago in orange and blue.
Subsequent time you’ve gotten a spare afternoon, try a few of Hester’s video collections. It’s cheaper than espresso and gained’t provide the caffeine jitters.
All informed, he returned 20 touchdowns, an NFL file. That included 14 punt returns for touchdowns, 5 kickoff returns for touchdowns, and a very dazzling profession spotlight through which he caught a missed subject aim behind the tip zone and completed with 108 yards returned for a landing as a rookie.
These are simply his common season accomplishments. He additionally returned the kickoff 92 yards for a landing in Tremendous Bowl XLI, turning everybody watching in Chicago right into a “Tremendous Fan” character from “Saturday Evening Dwell.”
Bears 77, Colts 2.
The ultimate rating did not work out that manner, with Peyton Manning and the Colts successful the Tremendous Bowl. Hester’s profession did not precisely go the way in which he wished, because the crew tried and failed to show him right into a No. 1 extensive receiver.
However when he shot again, you held your breath involuntarily. Over the subsequent few seconds, something might occur as he ran ahead, modified path, cycled backwards, and eventually noticed daylight and pressed the inner turbo button.
Keep in mind after I mentioned there was no different Corridor of Famer like Hester?
There will not be anybody like him anymore, both, because the NFL now treats the punt return recreation as some sort of bizarre science experiment.
Thursday’s first recreation between the Bears and the Houston Texans made that clear.
Bears kicker Cairo Santos stood alone on the kickoff on the Chicago 35-yard line.
The Bears’ different 10 gamers have been on the opposite facet of midfield, on the Texans’ 40-yard line. On the 35-yard line from the Texans’ 5, Houston had 9 blockers going through the Bears’ kickoff unit.
Houston had two returners close to the aim line, with Steven Sims the kickoff man. The remainder of the Bears and Texans gamers stood immobile, like baseball gamers on third base ready for a sacrifice fly, they usually got here to life when Sims caught the ball.
There was quite a lot of direct one-on-one blocking as Sims surged ahead and was tripped close to the 25 – consider skinny variations of the linebackers locking one another up.
This appears to be like like a flowery XFL recreation.
Oh, hey, what are you aware? The NFL copied a lot of the ideas from the XFL.
What’s going on right here? Is the kickoff recreation so dangerous that the league ought to abandon it solely and make groups begin each possession inside 25 seconds?
One can solely surprise what Hester thought as she watched the drama earlier than her.
Possibly, simply possibly, this led to his first grey hair.
