Bears fans were not the only ones shocked that Devin Hester did not get the nod for this year's Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Instead, the Class of 2022 included Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler, Sam Mills, Richard Seymour, Bryant Young, Cliff Branch, Art McNally and Dick Vermeil. The return specialist said he was “hurt” not being on the first ballot.
“First off congrats to the 2022 HOF, but this hurts for me not being a first ballot,” Hester posted on Instagram. “I really wanted this one bad, but life goes on and hopefully it will happen someday 💯✊🏾🙏🏾”
Hester previously told Sports Illustrated's Mitch Goldich why being a first-ballot Hall of Famer was important to him, saying, “First-ballot Hall of Famers are Hall of Famers that you have no question that they should be a Hall of Famer. You think about the best of the best—best quarterbacks, best running backs, best receivers. I know we don’t have any [full-time] returners in the Hall of Fame, but I did things that have never been done before.”
Deion Sanders told Goldich, “It would be absurd if [Hester's] not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.” The Jackson State coach himself was a first-ballot, whose record of 19 return touchdowns stood until Hester came along and broke it.
“There’s no man that was feared more than Devin Hester with a ball in his hands on special teams,” says Sanders. “And that’s coming from me.”
Hester was one of the rare finalists who made his mark primarily on special teams. He was dubbed an All-Pro three times, is on the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 2010s and one of two return specialists a part of the NFL 100 All-Time Team.
