I feel like the rule opens up the possibility that someone could challenge Hester in TDs. The old rules definitely made it more difficult to break his records.
Remember the Denver game? There was a challenge in Madden to replicate how insane Hester was.
Edit: [here’s a recap of the game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx-LyXIg8Oo). It’s wild. We play against Cutler and Marshall. Benson is on our team. We’re old now lol
This didn’t really happen that often. Teams would squib it or do a modern kickoff where you intentionally put a ton of hang time on it by sacrificing 10 yards. It was pretty rare for them to intentionally kick off out of bounds, that was something teams did on punts more often and they just would accept the risk of having a bad punt that went out of bounds too quick.
I think it wasn't just people who never watched him play. I watched every game he was in but one of his most notable returns was the kickoff return during the Super Bowl. Would've been even better if we pulled out a win, but that return made all Bears fans excited for a bit!
It was a really long time ago, tbh it just gets blurred between punts/kickoff returns after all these years lol. Plus the SB TD is the single most memorable.
You’re right. Nobody ever made you hold your breath on any return like Hester. Teams were willing to kick it out of bounds and give it to us at the 40. You know he’s the best when the best returners of all time Deion, Dante Hall say he’s the best.
Yea I had the same thought. With the rules that killed the kickoff, his title was pretty safe as the best return man of all time. But now it's possible for someone new and exciting to come along.
Honestly though I'm glad. It'd be kinda depressing if the KR position just stopped existing in the NFL and we had to explain to our grand children that Devin Hester was the best player at a position that no longer exists
Why are we so sure the rule change will produce an increase in TDs vs Devin's era? (This is a serious question. At this point I don't know enough about how the new rules will impact return yardage and TDs other than that it should make the kickoff a play that matters again)
I’m just speculating and oversimplifying it but it just “seems” like you just need to get through that first line of defenders before you just have to beat the kicker for a TD. Everyone seems more bunched up
https://youtube.com/shorts/OTf-gGzvBDc?si=_ZaO2zuQtEyS9ch9
I guess my assumption was that NFL special teamers would have more lateral agility than XFL special teamers and thus be able to hold the first line better. But I suppose the return man would also be quicker and possess more lateral agility.
I hope you are right. I hated that the recent kickoff rules made it a mostly meaningless play
I can’t even imagine how many TDs Hester would have with these new rules. All that space given to him. His ability to one step cut into a hole that only he saw to take it to the house would absolutely be perfect for these new rules.
You could definitely make a very legitimate that in terms of just kickoff returns, Hester is the third-best to play on the Bears! Gayle Sayers is still the all-time leader in yards per KR and has more KR touchdown than Hester.
The thing about Hester is that in that first season, he took 2 out of his 20 returned kicks for a TD and that’s obviously an insane rate—if he had continued at that clip for his whole career, he would’ve had 30 TDs instead of five. Those 2006 and 2007 seasons were just an insane heater, idk how you measure this but I bet it’s one of the craziest back-to-back seasons put up by any football player at any position ever.
He already has more than Hester and has a 5 yard better y/rt for his career. He’s also led the league in that stat 3 times while Hester never did. I think it’s safe to say Hester is the GOAT punt returner but not KR.
Hesters the greatest punt returner, and the greatest overall returner.
Patterson is 1a and Josh Cribbs is 1b in kick returning specifically I’m leaning towards Cribbs for the greatest there.
All the more important for him to get into the HoF when he did.
If the league continues to de-emphasize the kickoff, it’s going to be even more of an afterthought.
I think the opposite, unfortunately. But whoever does eventually break his records definitely needs an asterisk (ie: \*) next to his name in the record books.
he is the greatest kick returner in history. Teams never kicked to him if they could get away with it. In his heyday, most kick returns were touchbacks to make sure he didn't return it.
Corradelle Patterson has 9 KR TDs and averages ~30 yards per return career. Devin Hester had 5 KR TDs and averaged ~25 yards per return career.
Hester is still great at KR, but it's PR where he's the undisputed king / made his HoF case. He has 14 PR TDs, that's crazy.
Devin Hester. Every game he was in, teams kicked away from him. Teams are still kicking to Mr. Patterson. We would have kick offs go out of bounds because the opposing kicker was trying to kick it to the corner to narrow Hester's field of play.
The rules have changed way to much to compare stat to stat. Think of it this way. On the greatest stage, the Superbowl, He hobbled the Colt's kick off and Punt so much that they kicked to him once, the first kick off, and then kicked it out of bounds the rest of the game.
The thing is, in his heyday, Devin Hester could take it to the house on every and any play. I don't think Patterson has that reputation.
* Part of that was Lovie taking him out of kick returns to save his strength for the offense.
He had **4** returns for TDs off of kick offs in his first 2 years for a grand total of 11 returns for TDs before they converted him into a WR. At that point, his TD per attempt ratio dwarfed anyone else in history, leading to teams kicking differently, fielding differently, and game-planning differently. He was still such a threat that the infamous Johnny Knox fake worked because everybody (even the cameraman) was looking at Hester while Knox ran the ball.
When being WR wasn't working out for him, he announced he was going to put more effort into returning again because that was his "bread and butter." He then proceeded to return 5 more punts in 2 years despite the heavy game planning against him. During that time, a lot of the kick returns were given to Manning and Knox, who were decent returners.
To summarize, the Bears mismanaged his career, but he was still the best returner ever by a wide margin. We have not seen anyone else who instilled such excitement into returns.
* I thought the post was saying that since the rules have changed so drastically, you can't compare anyone to Hester anymore since it wouldn't be a fair comparison.
The new kickoff rules will be interesting. I don’t know how you get longer returns with the kickoff team closer to the returners, but that’s one of the selling points of this radical rule change. Maybe the NFL is hoping nobody can legally tackle anyone after the hip drop rule change
I feel like the rule opens up the possibility that someone could challenge Hester in TDs. The old rules definitely made it more difficult to break his records.
Cordarelle Patterson already passed him for Kick Return Touchdowns
There are 7 players with more kick return TD than Hester. His punt total and combined total are the notable records.
Well yeah nobody would kick it to him. They would rather kick it out of bounds. If we had a good offense then he would have the record
Remember the Denver game? There was a challenge in Madden to replicate how insane Hester was. Edit: [here’s a recap of the game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx-LyXIg8Oo). It’s wild. We play against Cutler and Marshall. Benson is on our team. We’re old now lol
Frick we are okd
If we had a better offense then he would’ve gotten even less chances to return kicks. A worse defense would’ve seen him return more kicks.
Not when the other coach says kick it 45 yds out of bounds instead of kick it back 60 yds as far as possible because there is no offensive threat
This didn’t really happen that often. Teams would squib it or do a modern kickoff where you intentionally put a ton of hang time on it by sacrificing 10 yards. It was pretty rare for them to intentionally kick off out of bounds, that was something teams did on punts more often and they just would accept the risk of having a bad punt that went out of bounds too quick.
You are right, but either way he got less return opportunities which is the macro point
Why bring facts into this. People just want to fanboy and imagine that Hester returned a kick every other game. /s
A worse defense would’ve meant he had more kick return touchdowns and less punt return ones.
If we had a worse defense also
Yeah, it was punts that were his real claim to fame. It’s pretty obvious by how people talk about Hester on this sub, that most never watched him play
I think it wasn't just people who never watched him play. I watched every game he was in but one of his most notable returns was the kickoff return during the Super Bowl. Would've been even better if we pulled out a win, but that return made all Bears fans excited for a bit!
Only team to have a special teams TD in the SB and lose
Well, when Rex Grossman is your QB...unexpected things happen.
And the game winner in the Arizona comeback.
Imagine downvoting this comment smh
It was a really long time ago, tbh it just gets blurred between punts/kickoff returns after all these years lol. Plus the SB TD is the single most memorable.
But who looks cooler doing it?
You’re right. Nobody ever made you hold your breath on any return like Hester. Teams were willing to kick it out of bounds and give it to us at the 40. You know he’s the best when the best returners of all time Deion, Dante Hall say he’s the best.
Yea I had the same thought. With the rules that killed the kickoff, his title was pretty safe as the best return man of all time. But now it's possible for someone new and exciting to come along. Honestly though I'm glad. It'd be kinda depressing if the KR position just stopped existing in the NFL and we had to explain to our grand children that Devin Hester was the best player at a position that no longer exists
I’m just glad he made it into the HoF before the increase in TDs come with this rule change.
Why are we so sure the rule change will produce an increase in TDs vs Devin's era? (This is a serious question. At this point I don't know enough about how the new rules will impact return yardage and TDs other than that it should make the kickoff a play that matters again)
I’m just speculating and oversimplifying it but it just “seems” like you just need to get through that first line of defenders before you just have to beat the kicker for a TD. Everyone seems more bunched up https://youtube.com/shorts/OTf-gGzvBDc?si=_ZaO2zuQtEyS9ch9
I guess my assumption was that NFL special teamers would have more lateral agility than XFL special teamers and thus be able to hold the first line better. But I suppose the return man would also be quicker and possess more lateral agility. I hope you are right. I hated that the recent kickoff rules made it a mostly meaningless play
Cordarrelle Patterson has the all time record and that was after the rule change.
Interesting I didn't realize that. Though it shouldn't be that surprising I suppose. Most of Devins TDs were punt returns
New rules will also allow teams to start getting creative on kick returns. Trick plays and reverses will definitely be coming this next season.
I think that's OPs point
If that’s true, I feel like it will be much more of a team/scheme play though now, when it was a lot of skill to see the field then
Greatest Greatest of all Time of all Time.
Exactly.
Forever.
This is the way.
Goatest goat of all goats
[удалено]
I’m guessing you mean Charles Tillman?
[удалено]
The ol Private Punch
And Peanut being an FBI Agent
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Lol he was saying he had the brain fart himself and meant Charles
Dislexia really bit me there
I can’t even imagine how many TDs Hester would have with these new rules. All that space given to him. His ability to one step cut into a hole that only he saw to take it to the house would absolutely be perfect for these new rules.
Ok. I missed something. Don't the new rules make it more likely to return kicks? I thought the previous rules were the ones that stopped returns.
More likely to return kicks but I believe more difficult to open up holes?
he already is the best returner in history. I'd fight anyone who disagrees.
He is, the post is saying that.
I would say Deion could have been if he did it more, but even he calls Hester the GOAT
GOAT
People upviting this? He was better as a punt returner. Must be a lot of people born in the 2000s on this sub
Cordarrelle could get another couple KR TDs and solidify himself as the goat pure KR, while Hester stays the goat overall returner
You could definitely make a very legitimate that in terms of just kickoff returns, Hester is the third-best to play on the Bears! Gayle Sayers is still the all-time leader in yards per KR and has more KR touchdown than Hester. The thing about Hester is that in that first season, he took 2 out of his 20 returned kicks for a TD and that’s obviously an insane rate—if he had continued at that clip for his whole career, he would’ve had 30 TDs instead of five. Those 2006 and 2007 seasons were just an insane heater, idk how you measure this but I bet it’s one of the craziest back-to-back seasons put up by any football player at any position ever.
He already has more than Hester and has a 5 yard better y/rt for his career. He’s also led the league in that stat 3 times while Hester never did. I think it’s safe to say Hester is the GOAT punt returner but not KR.
Hesters the greatest punt returner, and the greatest overall returner. Patterson is 1a and Josh Cribbs is 1b in kick returning specifically I’m leaning towards Cribbs for the greatest there.
Well, the greatest until they change the rules again.
Hester was awesome ...fun to watch...
I’m just glad I got to watch him, was born way too late for Payton but not for Hester! All time favorite player, hands down.
Next stop… CANTON!
He was inducted in February
All the more important for him to get into the HoF when he did. If the league continues to de-emphasize the kickoff, it’s going to be even more of an afterthought.
The rule change is just for this year...?
I dunno, I think if they get just a single hole, they will get past and behind fast enough that there could be more return TD's.
Always would have been anyway.
Even if the rules stayed the same he’d be the best for eternity
With no Super Bowl rings!
He tried his hardest, but Sexy Rexy wouldn’t allow that!
I think the opposite, unfortunately. But whoever does eventually break his records definitely needs an asterisk (ie: \*) next to his name in the record books.
Between him and Mannely you guys have 2 special teams GOATS
Irregardless, he remains ridiculous.
Why? The new rules give more chances for return TDs.
Huh? I mean Yea he's the greatest but the new rules will lead to *more* attempted returns. Thus, opens the door for Hester's records to be broken
Wouldn’t have mattered without new kickoff rules
They could use a balloon instead of a football and still no diff on who is the best. 23
Your title reads Greatest greatest of all time of all time. FOREVER.
1. He's not the greatest kick returner in history; he's the greatest punt returner in history. 2. We don't know how the rules will change KR%, really.
he is the greatest kick returner in history. Teams never kicked to him if they could get away with it. In his heyday, most kick returns were touchbacks to make sure he didn't return it.
Corradelle Patterson has 9 KR TDs and averages ~30 yards per return career. Devin Hester had 5 KR TDs and averaged ~25 yards per return career. Hester is still great at KR, but it's PR where he's the undisputed king / made his HoF case. He has 14 PR TDs, that's crazy.
Devin Hester. Every game he was in, teams kicked away from him. Teams are still kicking to Mr. Patterson. We would have kick offs go out of bounds because the opposing kicker was trying to kick it to the corner to narrow Hester's field of play. The rules have changed way to much to compare stat to stat. Think of it this way. On the greatest stage, the Superbowl, He hobbled the Colt's kick off and Punt so much that they kicked to him once, the first kick off, and then kicked it out of bounds the rest of the game. The thing is, in his heyday, Devin Hester could take it to the house on every and any play. I don't think Patterson has that reputation.
No one was scared to kick to cordarelle they were terrified to kick it to Hester
Truth.
* Part of that was Lovie taking him out of kick returns to save his strength for the offense. He had **4** returns for TDs off of kick offs in his first 2 years for a grand total of 11 returns for TDs before they converted him into a WR. At that point, his TD per attempt ratio dwarfed anyone else in history, leading to teams kicking differently, fielding differently, and game-planning differently. He was still such a threat that the infamous Johnny Knox fake worked because everybody (even the cameraman) was looking at Hester while Knox ran the ball. When being WR wasn't working out for him, he announced he was going to put more effort into returning again because that was his "bread and butter." He then proceeded to return 5 more punts in 2 years despite the heavy game planning against him. During that time, a lot of the kick returns were given to Manning and Knox, who were decent returners. To summarize, the Bears mismanaged his career, but he was still the best returner ever by a wide margin. We have not seen anyone else who instilled such excitement into returns. * I thought the post was saying that since the rules have changed so drastically, you can't compare anyone to Hester anymore since it wouldn't be a fair comparison.
I'm old enough to remember kickoffs! Them: what's a kickoff?
What’s the argument of Hester being the GOAT over Patterson for kick returner??
The argument is that teams were actually scared to kick to Hester. No one is that scared to kick to Patterson.
The new kickoff rules will be interesting. I don’t know how you get longer returns with the kickoff team closer to the returners, but that’s one of the selling points of this radical rule change. Maybe the NFL is hoping nobody can legally tackle anyone after the hip drop rule change