When the ball is in Devin Hester’s hands, the game of football opens up and flowers. A sport that has entangled itself in ever more complicated strategies over the decades becomes again simple and beautiful. It returns to its origins, a man with the ball trying to elude all others. No wonder every punt and kickoff brings calls to come watch. At home, in a bar, or on site at Soldier Field, this is no time for a bathroom break. This is not to be missed.
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It was one thing when he was doing it at the University of Miami–see him now in the “Devin Hester Anytime” collection of highlights on YouTube–but it’s quite another to watch him outclass NFL players as well. These are the fastest athletes for their size–and in many cases the orneriest–in the world. Even so, with the opponents focusing everything on stopping him, Hester finds a way to run free. It’s what he did with the opening kickoff of the last Super Bowl, what he did when he almost tiptoed through the punt coverage before exploding into the open for an 89-yard touchdown last week against the Minnesota Vikings, and what he did to score on an 81-yard bomb from Brian Griese to briefly tie that game in the final minute and a half. The Bears’ radio play-by-play man, Jeff Joniak, has put it best: “Devin Hester, you are ridiculous!”
The thing about Hester is that as a return man he can be avoided. The Philadelphia Eagles proved that Sunday by kicking away from him. He didn’t have a single return yard all day. The result was a game that reduced coach Lovie Smith’s team to the Bears of the Dick Jauron era. The defense bent, but at first refused to break. The Eagles were dominating the first half in time of possession, but a pair of field goals gave them only a 6-0 lead. Peering out of his helmet, shoulder pads hunched, Griese–who bears a striking resemblance to Steppenwolf’s Gary Cole–looks less like a quarterback than an actor playing a quarterback. But he rallied the Bears with a couple of nice passes to tight ends Desmond Clark and Greg Olson, and Chicago got on the scoreboard with a field goal toward the end of the half. The defense gave it right back and the Eagles led 9-3 at intermission.
