The Bears are BACK, baby!

Your Turn: What are you looking forward to in tonight’s game?

Devin Hester was the only active player interview I ever enjoyed. He was charismatic, honest, funny, and he was not pleased to see Josh Cribbs stealing some of his limelight while he was sidelines with an injury. Hester was also the most electric athlete of my lifetime. Data wrote a terrific piece, Quantifying Devin Hester, in 2017. Robert even reflected on Hester in his early days as editor here. We’ve written a lot about Hester around here, but attention must continue being paid.

The NFL ridiculously prohibits their YouTube highlights from being embedded on non-affiliated websites, even sites that have been promoting their product for two decades. So, in order to watch the videos below you need to click the links and go over to the YT site. But these are my three favorite Hester performances/moments.

2007. Week 12. Denver Broncos.

Video: Devin Hester Kick Return/Punt Return Highlights | (2007) Week 12 – Denver Broncos vs Chicago Bears – YouTube

Kick returners have won games in the NFL, but this is the only game I can remember where a kick returner singlehandedly won an NFL game. The Broncos outplayed the Bears on BOTH sides of the ball for four quarters, but Hester’s two returns (a kickoff and a punt) were the difference.

2006. “They are who we thought they were!”

Video: Monday Night Meltdown! (Bears vs. Cardinals 2006, Week 6) (youtube.com)

The wildest night I spent at Josie Woods, and the most inconceivable football game I’ve ever witnessed.

The Super Bowl Moment.

Video: [HD] Devin Hester Opening Kickoff Return | Superbowl XLI | Extended Version (youtube.com)

It is the sporting event I choose to forget, but one can’t deny it had the most thrilling opening moments in Chicago Bears history. With that kick return touchdown, Hester solidified his historical status with the organization. I remember, in a somewhat drunken haze, screaming, “This is our year! This is our year!” It was not.

Devin Hester was my first favorite Bears player growing up, and as a young boy watching Bears games with my dad Hester became the icon that represented exactly why, no matter the score, we never gave up on a game until the final whistle blew.

It didn’t matter if our Quarterback had turned the ball over 6 times, and it didn’t matter if the offense couldn’t get a first down, because the Bears’ defense would eventually force a punt and Devin would get us the points back. Truly, he was ridiculous — the league had never seen someone like him, and with the changes made to returning rules the league likely never will again.

Now that we’re just a few days away from the Bears’ first preseason game, take a day to trek down memory lane and remember one of the most sensational rookie seasons ever played in a Bears’ uniform — it’s absolutely wild to think that the organization spent a 2nd round pick on a Return Specialist (I learned that today, for all these years I assumed he must’ve been a 4th or 5th round pick), but suffice to say they got everything they could’ve hoped for from him and more.

Who will be the Bears’ next sensational rookie? If we’re lucky, we’ll get a clue on Saturday. But until then, sit back and remember the unbelievable moments that ‘Anytime’ Devin Hester brought fans around the world. Truly, he was ridiculous.

Happy birthday to Devin Hester, the Greatest Return Man to Ever Do It — and future Hall of Famer. pic.twitter.com/ielqA2VNXZ

— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) November 4, 2022

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Here is the entire game.

This was an improbable victory in an otherwise forgettable season. (I remember watching this game live with Noah at Smith’s in Park Slope.) Also fun to see the Cutler-Marshall connection while it was still in Denver.

Hester’s third quarter should be enough to get him into the Hall of Fame.

The Bears are currently slated to have two picks tonight.

• Round 2, Pick 20 (52 overall)
• Round 3, Pick 20 (83 overall)

While many have identified the obvious needs – receiver, tackle, defensive back – I would hesitate before focusing on areas of need. The Bears are now building for a Justin Fields future. They’ll not only be looking to fill roster holes for 2021, but also perceived roster holes coming in 2022 like edge rusher and interior defensive line.

Good morning Twitter.

If you don’t put Devin Hester in the Hall of Fame, the Hall of Fame is a fucking joke. pic.twitter.com/hm1zAz4Mlc

— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) April 19, 2021

Sorry for the break the last few weeks. I haven’t been able to watch games live due to various holiday scheduling hijinks. Darn that real life for getting in the way!

Before we get into today’s game specifically, reports are that John Fox will be fired today. I won’t miss you as Chicago’s head coach.

In general, this game looked very much like a disinterested team playing out the string on the road for a soon-to-be-fired coaching staff against a hungry opponent playing to lock up a first round bye.

Offense

• The Bears got the ball to start and opened with a heavy set Jordan Howard run into a stacked box for no gain. On their 2nd drive, they followed that up with a Jordan Howard run into a stacked box for -4 yards. Shockingly, both drives ended in 3 and outs. Oh how I am not going to miss that.
• On Chicago’s 3rd drive, they threw the ball on 1st down! You’ll be surprised to find out that not being incredibly predictable actually worked. Of course, the Bears followed that up with a FB dive into a 9 man box on 3rd and 1 (why is Michael Burton still a thing?), which lost yardage and forced a punt. Before they could get the punt off, the Bears took a delay of game penalty, because of course.
• Rookie QB Mitchell Trubisky had a bad rookie moment that resulted in a safety. Under pressure, he kept backing up until he was in the end zone, which was the mistake. He then threw the ball away to pick up an intentional grounding penalty, which is a safety in the end zone. My complaint is not with the grounding, but with the fact that he backed up into the end zone first. He could have taken the sack at the 3 yard line, and needs to know the field position situation there.
• Trubisky also had a terrible throw in the fourth quarter where he missed a wide-open Dontrelle Inman because his feet were not properly set. Despite a clean pocket, he did something weird where he torqued his upper body, which caused him to put the ball far too wide and out of bounds. Those mechanical issues, and the corresponding accuracy concerns, have been a repeated problem this offseason, and are the #1 thing Trubisky needs to work on this offseason.

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Devin Hester officially announced his retirement this week, well after NFL teams had made it obvious that his career was over. My Twitter feed was instantly flooded with highlights and memories, and I hope you’ve taken a few moments in the last couple days to remember just how special Hester was. If not, here’s a quick refresher. Well, it’s not that quick, but that’s the point; Hester’s highlight reel is a long one.

Hester is without a doubt the greatest return man in NFL history. His 20 return touchdowns are the most ever. He had 3,786 punt return yards as a Bear, more than 1,000 more than the next highest returner, and his 14.3 yards per punt return led the NFL (minimum 50 attempts) by half a yard over that stretch.

But a common argument has been that Hester’s impact extended beyond his absurd return statistics because teams prioritized kicking away from him, giving the Bears better field position. Using the terrific Game Play Finder from Pro Football Reference, I attempted to see if that actually happened. Special thanks to the wonderful Andrew Link for helping me think through how to do this.

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