Devin Hester shares his emotions before HOF induction | Bears, etc. Podcast

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Dottie Go motest Sweaty Bears, et Cetera, brought to you by Miller Lighte with the voices of the Bears, Jeff Jonia and Tom Thayer. Training camp going strong with fans starting to arrive at the pad's about to come on, and we're also looking forward to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the arrival of one Devin Hester, days away from his entrance into the hallid halls of Canton, Ohio and induction. Devin appreciate you joining us here on the Bears et Cetera Podcast.

This is episode eighty one.

Were brought to you by Miller Lyte, Jeff Jona Yank here with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer, and you are our special guest.

What are your emails right now?

I mean, it's just it's more nervous than anything for me. It's really the only thing that I'm stressing over is just the speech. Everything else is going pretty good, the planning and tickets, the hotels, all that stuff, and pretty good for me is just really preparing for the speech, you know what I mean, just so many people, I want to think, trying to make sure I don't leave any the important people left out.

Other than that, and just enjoying it. Time is it's smoothing a little slow right now, so I'm ready to get well.

See, in the old days, I don't you know, I remember going. I've covered several Hall of Fame induction speeches, and I remember Steve Young's time you might remember his was so long, I mean it was. Now they give you a time what is the time limit? And do they really impress upon you that you have to adhere to it? And that would lead to me wondering too, yea, how do you? How do you thank everybody?

So first off they they we have a new guy that runs it now, Jim Porter. Yeah, and his mindset is this is you guys. They you know, at first they had a time limit, and of course a couple of guys who went over the time limit.

But he pretty much said, hey, I want to.

Make your speech, tell you a certain time listening it's your day. However you feel if you want to thank the whole world, then of course we don't want you to belt there for hours, but you know, hopefully you can get ten minutes to twenty minutes in that'd be perfect. So that's kind of where we're at right now. I've been practicing a little bit. I'm around the fifteen minute marks. I feel like that that's pretty good. But other than that, just taking it day by day.

Hey, Devin, So, the opportunity to get in the Hall of Fame, there's obviously a year of disappointment when you were overlooked, but then there's that year of excitement when you were you were going to be presented into the Hall of Fame. Can you talk about the two different sides of the emotion for you, the disappointment, but how it led up to the excitement each year sold this.

I didn't get into my third year and.

The first two years I made the finalist to the top ten every the first two years.

And the way it works, if they give you a.

Call, even if you make it or you don't, and let you know, and each phone call it was hey man, we're sorry.

You was right at the boy again.

The first two years, I was the last person to get cut. So they picked five out the six man two years in a row, and they was like, man, it happened again. And I was like, well, I'm the six guy again again this year. And you're like, yeah, You're like, but listen, you're so close, man. We've been rooting for year. So they listen, we know that your time is coming. This is not a question. So that's something that you don't don't have to worry about. We just it's a matter of time that it will happen.

The third strike is a charm. That's a great line by you use it in your use it in your speech. You know what's interesting about you, Devin, is all the Hall of famers that I played with, whether Richard Dan or Dan Hampton or Mike Singletary or Jimbo Walter, Baton Walter. You know, they all played a position and they were embraced by the Bears fans. The more I read about you, the more that you're embraced by the nation of football fans.

It's it's it's truely, honestly, you know, not only to be loved by just to see a Chicago but nationwide. I know, my first year up for the Hall of Fame, I know that I was the fan voting leader, you know, and this is we had some of the top guys in there three years ago and I lay in fan votes for the Hall of Fame.

So you know, it's just that that's a testimony to show.

That, Hey, you know, I mean you not only love about Chicago natives, but you're your your nation wide.

You have so many, so many fans that love you and and they show.

Heck, Devin, it's worldwide.

How many how many emails or Twitter messages or Instagram have you gotten from other countries fans? Because the Bears have a massive fan base in Europe, especially in London, Germany. Uh people tell me Japan. I mean, have you felt that at all internationally?

Oh?

Yeah, most definitely even and it always starts off, Hey I'm a Jets fan, or hey I'm a Packer fan, or hey I'm Detroit or whatever for the nine a fan or whatever.

The case may be. But I gotta give you your props.

You are the most dangerous guy, best returning to ever walk the face of the earth. And I get that so much from guys whenever they do a post about the Hall of Fame or quote that somebody may posts on Instagram or Twitter. You read the comments and it's all nationwise fans. I'm all over that's coming in on that Senate. This guy is really who he really are.

Busy Heart, Seltzer Flavors for every vibe, Celebrate Responsibly, Molten Cores Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All right, So back to the speech a minute, And is this gonna be kind of the first time that you're gonna get to a podium and give a speech And this is about your professional life and the pinnacle of achievement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, And is anybody helping you write it.

So of course I had a couple of speeches growing up in the elementary, in middle school, high school, but really it wasn't about me, It wasn't about football, it wasn't really about my life. This one is really really based on the moment I was born to the man I am today, and when I look back at this speech, this speech is really about.

To me.

It's the last award you can get in professional football. There's no other ward that you can get outside of the Hall of Fame. There's no other ward that's that's out there to get. And so for me, this award here, man, is me telling my journey how I got to this point and what types of help did I get along the way to get me to this point, and just a life dream as a child run I want to do for a professional football player, and just all in the nuts, that's just what it.

Took, you know, Devin.

I think anybody, any of us that have played football and dedicated our life to it, there's a coach that started at all for me. It was a guy named Rocky Carnegie who started the Pop Warner program in Joliet, Illinois. And he came and said look, I think you should play football. When you think about your speech, is there a guy first guy to say, Man, this guy is special, I need you on the football field.

I think my situation was a looked different. You know, we went Florida. That's all we did wast was played football. And so amongst our periods, the player, the kids that I grew up with, we all just kind of just bonded and we'd all played in one community.

And it was more so whenever the big.

Sign sold up saying registration time to sign up for football, it was just what we did.

So when you when you got into football, how long did it take for a coacher for you to recognize that some of your skills are going to be on the special teams? You know, there's not everybody can't go out there and catch punts. There's not a lot of guys that have the guts to return kickoffs. So how early were you when you realize that this can be a major part of my future.

I would say it.

Started at an early age because you know, of course, everybody with talent growing up in part one to either play quarterback and running back. That's just that's just no braining. When when you're the best player on the team, they put your quarterback and running back.

And so.

After the first day of truts, that was my position, quarterback and running back. And so coaches always trying to find a way to get their best guys, get the ball in the best guy hands, and so of course me being one of the best guys with the ball in my hand, they say kickoff and part return the call you go back there to the return it, and so that kind of just.

Stuck with me.

It was always another opportunity to showcase my talent, to get my hands on the ball and to get us an end zone.

How'd you find the lineman? You know, you gotta you gotta have a group of linemen. Don't don't take us out of the game. How'd you find those guys back in when you were growing up.

It was it was always back in the days at easier to find lineman because we it was just one big community, you know, and so the lineman couldn't get left out. You know, those guys are going to play football too, So they say, hey, if you overhearded clouds, you're on the line.

You know, it's such a fertile area for talent down there too, so many great players, and it's it's it's a conveyor belt. They're still coming in the league from all areas of Florida and the South for that matter. You can make a case the whole Florida Georgia argument.

You know that.

But you know when when when you return the opening kickoff touchdown in the Super Bowl, and I said, from Riviera Beach, Florida to the biggest stage in sports, Devin Hester, you are ridiculous.

You know that was an It was in your backyard.

You could not have scripted that any better than that, the biggest stage in sports. And here you take the opening kickoff for a touchdown that calls in the Hall of Fame. Now you'll be in the Hall of Fame with your bus. You got the gold jacket. I mean, can you put that on perspective, that particular moment in time, out of all the big returns of your career.

I think that really really solidified who I really was.

You know, I just did a commercial shoot with Josh Cribben and D'Angelo Dante I'm sorry, Dante Hall, and we got the opportunity to have, you know, an hour to sit down and talk during lunch, and the one thing they did say was, hey, man, like, as a returner, you know, we going games, we don't have pressure because we don't have people talking about, Okay, are you going to return one this week?

Are you?

Are you guys gonna get a touchdown on the return game? But he said they were saying, like the situation that you was in when you played in the Super Bowl and it was just talked about for weeks and weeks, will you return one?

Like that's a lot.

Of pressure, Like so you felt it, you felt it?

Yeah, yeah, you get that.

In regular game. Hey, they're gonna take the returns back this week? You know, Okay, okay, yeah, I possibly can't. But when you're in the national biggest game of the year and it's getting tald about you seeing casino bets and all these draft king bets coming up, and you're like, wow, I gotta try to win some of these people money. You're getting all the report going on with everybody that's fresh.

The funny thing is on the actual radio call, you're not aware of this, I'm certain, but I'm going crazy. Tom's going crazy. Tom's saying, no way, how did this happen? And Tom said Hey, did somebody just win a TV? Because we had a contest at the radio station all year if somebody went returned to the opening kickoff for a touchdown, they'd win. A sharp awkwas television. So some women won a TV because of you. So, I mean that's crazy stuff. Uh, but you know we'll never forget it,

So devins. As an offensive lineman, we study tape and we study tape of our opponent, and we kind of look at the flow, their strength, their weaknesses, their vulnerabilities as a kick returner. Is it just how you see it at the second or do you spend time watching tape of what maybe their vulnerabilities are against the athlete like yourself.

I feel like at this point, you in a return game in all phases of the nationals of football, whenever you had a skilled position or any position, you have to go on a gain knowing who you plan first and then going against. So like when we when I would watch film, because I would watch film on Mondays and Tuesday to get a head start. Coach Day told inspired that into me and made me a better player

You know?

First off, you know because especially you have a lot of guys out there that's probably start on defense or offense that really don't want to be out there.

So he so glimpses of those.

And then on top of that, you study the kicker, you know what I mean, kickers A lot of returners, Like when I talked to him today, they don't even know which side of the kickers trying to go to, like kicking the ball to. They can't read the approach of the kicker, his alignement, the way he aligned from the ball. That they can't.

They don't. They never looked at that.

So but you didn't.

Yeah, yeah, so no one wish where the kicker is trying to go.

As a returner, that means you're getting an opportunity to get a jump on the ball because as a returner it's hard to catch the ball when you move inside the side trying to figure with the ball at But when you know where the ball is trying he's trying to get ball, you can go ahead and put yourself a position where you don't have to do a lot of movement.

You already there to catch the ball.

And then on top of that, you know, it's just understanding your blocking scheme. And when you understand your blocking schein, you can make it more easier and you can help those guys out even more to put them in a better position and make blocks.

So that opening kickoff of the Super Bowl, Dave Tobin, the special teams, they call it a designed return for that instant? Did the return open up as the way it was called? And did it all work out to your vision how you thought it was going to happen.

The first that I made missed was was unexpected. Thank you, it was going to be I thought we had him blocked. We supposedly had a man to pick them up, but I guess they ran some type of stunt where our guys can't get to him, and he appeared in the middle of the hole. So that that one move that I made in the middle of the hole was.

I don't want to say it, but that was that was all.

Me And it opened up after that. After that, if like from our advantage point of being high up in the booth, we could see that, boy, this thing could be this thing could be a touchdown after that move.

Most definitely, man.

So after I made that one missed and the rest everything else, the way we draw it up, it was perfectly designed.

See to me, Devon.

Somebody asked me about this the other day, a writer for a story they're doing on you and just that play, and they said, you know, did you ever anticipate, Devon? And I said, no, It's hard to anticipate. But I will say, whenever you made that sharp could that kicks sailed to the far side of the field, and then you whenever you got a lane in the middle of the field, you were gone. The blocking was there, and your speed and your slipperiness and your execution and vision

That's it. It was six.

And that happened time and time again. The crazy thing is that and this is where you and I think Tom would agree, when you talk about revolutionize something is that punters and the arrogance of the punters or the head coach or the special teams coordinator of these other teams, and we're gonna kick it to them anyway, Let's see, we're gonna get them, and they kick it down the

Saint Louis Rams game.

I mean, it was almost flabbergasting because in that two year period time when you you know, I don't know if people really have studied this, but the thirteen touchdowns in the first two years, that's insane. Like it's over three thousand return yards and thirteen touchdowns in those two years alone.

I wish, I wish every every special team unit would have had their mindset.

Career right who knows return would have had.

Oh no, no question.

You know, it affected the concession stands tales because no one wanted to get out of their seat and the opening kickoff or fourth down when Deva was on the field. And what a heck of a compliment, because like I said, I hear it from people all around the country that know that I work for the Bears and or had

Of the job.

Correct you so much for that.

Well, you know, the crazy thing is, I mean people talk about it and maybe you know, maybe you feel this or maybe you know it won't happen. But it's a common question will more return men be recognized? And there have been some outstanding return Nobody like you, though, And that is no disrespect to a guy like say Brian Mitchell, who put up a lot of yards, did it for a long time. He's never been a finalist. You talk about Dante Hall, he was on the human joystick.

It was very important because.

When guys realized, you know, the what we was capable of, it made a big difference in a special team room. Like I really felt like out of my four teams that I played with the NFL Chicago my first two years, we actually felt like we was part of the team. And you know, no disrespect to the other special team.

Units, but that bond that we had.

My first two years was like we felt like we was more important in the offense.

To be honest, it's important like it was we was in and the Bears they felt it.

So that's why you see sometimes pre game we would get recognized coming out because we had earnt guy strife that hey, we know the defense.

They is the defense where.

They come by and they name all the defensive player that everybody did the individual offense, get the individual.

But listen, it's a new sheriff in town. Man. Like we aren't a strikes but.

We are a third really third phase of the part of the team, you know what I mean. We we make big plays and hey, we feel like we should get out flowers here and there too. So the unit that we had in the bond that we had man and guys just would get terrified and really really upset when Codeto said, hey, man, we're gonna take our special team this week.

Those guys they said, I don't.

Care what you're not taking kickoff party.

They really really they they really look forward to the return game.

You know, Devin, you know we're all football fans and we pay attention to the game closely. When you go back and you look at this past Super Bowl and there was no kickoffs returned, how disappointing is that to you? Because I think when you look at the difficulty of that job in the period of time that you did it, it was super challenging. And then you look at these returners standing back there fair catching in the field to play. Letting these guys not take it four yards deep in

It's very disappointing, you know, and.

It's a sign of lack of respect for who you're putting back there, you know, as a special team coach, like coach Dave when I was playing, we had agreen like nine eight yard deep ends on them come up with So you know that that's just a respect and we've proven ourselves that hey, it don't matter where they keep the ball. If I can get my hands on it, we coming out with it regardless. And to me, it's

And that's what we right now we're lacking.

It is special team coaches don't have faith in the return guys or they just not trying to go out and get the return.

They looking at other positions.

You know, Devin, when I think of your skill level and I think of the new design of the kickoff return, Oh my god, Devin, you would return one a game for a touchdown. You would be you would be in a if they gave you that crease, if that gave you that impactful double team. I don't see anybody being able to catch you. And I you know, I'm so happy for you to go in the Hall of Fame, but I'm going. Man. Just think if Devon was still in the game, he would change the game.

And it's the situation.

They got it now you have no choice but let him return it now like you go. You're gonna see the return rate go from maybe ten to maybe eighty five percent in the first year.

With no hangtime, Devin, no hangtime.

And can't nobody can't move until I catch the ball. That's that's the greatest thing about it. I catch the ball and the ten yards away from each other, and then once I catch the ball, he is one one line.

It's like it's not staggered or nothing. So you find one crease and you out.

Of there and you can cancel Christmas with him.

I am worried though that you know kicker they're going to be The coaches will be fearful in the early going and have touchbacks and give up, you know, because it's it's five yards.

I mean they're giving.

Out what what what they're going to do right now or squip.

It is, they're going to find safeties and dvs to learn how to kick. It's gonna take the kickers out the game now because you find a safety DV that can kick, you put them back there because it's gonna be fie one on one titles.

That's what's gonna happen because.

Right now, it ain't no offside kicks really, there's no really no squib kicks like that. So now you have to kick it and if you kick it too far, it's a penalty.

Right right, you have within the.

Twenty five yard As a normal person, you should be able to do that.

It wouldn't shock me that the first special teams coordinator to pull that would be Dave Tobe.

He's got a guy could do that.

When it's time to tackle some game day deals, then go with a grocer has been a part of Chicago since eighteen ninety nine. Jewel Osco, the official grocery store The Chicago Bears are brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears. Devin, I'm sure you have a lot of invitations out and guys wanted to come and pay respects to your Hall of Fame career teammates. Give us, give us some of the names that'll be showing up

Wana Brown, a couple guys course, Jason Key, Johnny Knos, Brandon, Danegel, Hana Hite, Hilamar, Patsion Manley, the list goes on. Yeah, it's a lot of guys, agent piece and it's a ton of guys coming out there.

A lot of good men right there.

Yes, uh person, they tickets, got their hotel, so.

It's gonna be a uh family reunion once the party stars.

And then how about Mom? What?

Uh?

What?

What aligned you to have her be your presenter. I'm sure you thought about some other options, but you can't beat mom, right, you can't beat Mom.

It's a ton of guys that I had in mind, but it's nobody that adds up to what my mom did, and so I felt like, you know what I mean, for me, the most important person in the world for me, that really really guided me and got me to the point.

What's my mom? And so that's why I picked it.

Is she nervous?

Yeah, oh yeah, she's more nervous than me.

Man.

She called me every other day, every other day, asking me about it. I'm like, mar it's the same answer I get you two days ago, is.

A just be ready.

Yeah, it'll be something for sure, you know, Devin.

I was looking at some pictures of you this morning and from teams of different jerseys, but I really only remember you in a Bears jersey. I played my last year. After playing my career for the Bears, I went and played a year for the Miami Dolphins. And then when I walked away, I was comfortable with walking away from the game when you knew it was over. Were you comfortable with that part of your life knowing it was over?

I was comfortable because I I know I as a player of me in the vision, you probably felt the saying that you left a lot of players out there, You know what I mean, You left a lot of players on the field out there, and it's something that you felt like you didn't show that you could have was capable of showing. I left because of the injury I had on my told that I knew I wasn't gonna be the Devin Hester that everybody wanted me to be.

Last game of Seattle that.

I left out with a bang is how I felt my last game of my career. Like if you take away the penalties I had over three hundred yards returning in the playoff game.

Wow.

Wow.

That that was a statement that said, hey, even with a bum told and a seventy five percent Devin Huston can't nobody mentione.

So you know, from all your experiences throughout your professional career and now you have the opportunity to speak to youth and coach youth when you kind of give them advice or you're thinking about what you're gonna say to them, is a lot of it from the examples of your experience through your sports life.

And yeah, most definitely.

Then that's for me, that's the only way I can relate to anybody. I speak facts on what I have experienced, what I heard or what I think. I only go based off from my experience and what got me there and what made me so successful. Because hey, if you're hearing it from me and this is what I did,

I can only get my opinion from what I have experienced.

So that being said, when I talk to my youth, when I talk to my team, I only tell them my experience and what I did and the things I had to go to and what made me better and hopefully it can work for you.

Devin, you got the gold jacket. We saw the Twitter video with your kids. You are slow playing it real dramatic or take us through that and how cool is this?

How cool is this that you get to celebrate this with your wife and your children.

It's because for me, I'm a family guy.

If you guys don't know that, I know, I mean you can kind of see on my Instagram, my.

Twitter and things like that.

Every thing I do is it's all family, family, or it's never a time where I'm not doing anything really individual unless I'm playing golf.

I'm always a family guy.

So my last fifteen sixteen, seventeen years, I built the relationship and I built my own family where those are the guys. I'm around twenty four seven, and so it was an honor to see the process. You know, my first child, you know what I mean, My second child, my third child, and we all grew up in the same household. And the night is the countless days where I come home sometime I'm frustrated, I may have a

So Steve McMichael going in as well, Julius Pepper, Steve's second in the order, Jared Payton, the presenter. I mean, there's a lot of embarrassed connections here for the franchise that has the most Hall of famers.

What is the impact of you on you?

With that, and of course with Steve battling to stay alive just so he can, you know, experience this moment, how he's going to experience it from his from his bed in Joel and h where's.

He living again? And Homer Glenn.

Yeah, yeah, I've been I've been hearing stories about that situation.

I didn't I know.

They always trying to make a rangements for him to bring the bed and everything like that, and they said it was not positive that that would happen. But I know that they're saying he's fighting really really because he wants to be here for that moment.

And so.

I really can't tell you how that how he feels, because I'm not in his shoes, you know what I mean. But looking in from the outside, you know what I mean, it's a tough situation, you know what I mean, for him to finally make it, but he's in the situation that he's in where he's really really not really able to celebrate you know, the events that we've been having

I want to be there. I don't want nobody have to.

Go through all the festivities and to be able to go in and do the bus and to do all the activities that a lot of people don't know that we do before it leads up to the actual ceremony.

But it's a lot of opportunities, a lot of the great experience that you're able to do leading up to the Hall of Fame. And I'm just it's tough for a guy, like any any Hall of Famer to miss those those activities.

Man and been on the main stage.

Is just being on the stage of being able to thank every person that's evolved in your life, you know.

I mean, I know that son that he really really wanted to do.

You know, Devin, on that Hall of Fame Saturday, You're gonna be a Hall of Famer in reality for the first time in your life to about a week and a half ago, I went to a dinner with twenty

It's how it's gonna work its way out over the years.

Most definitely, man, because when I talk to a couple of the Hall of Family, it's just they said that it's one of two things you can't take away in life. You can't take away your diploma. You can't take away your mother, your dad, you know what I mean. That's always gonna be your mom, that's always gonna be your dad. But then the second thing on the list is you can't take away that gold jacket. Once you get that gold jacket, it's yours for life. And so for me,

Out of millions of guys that play this game of football.

We're not even talking about just NFL, but guy that tried to play it, the pop one that didn't make it, guy that trade to try to play in high school and then paying out college wife didn't get drafted.

So it's so many football club that tried this profession of sports, but merit down to three.

Hundred and seventy eight and they say, hey, I'm one of those guys.

Is rid of honor?

It surely is tastes like milder time.

Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories and three point two carbs for twelve ounces and draw up a great game plan of savings with Jewel Losco for your digital coupons. Download the app for a fully loaded lineup of hot deals on Produce, salty Snacks, Tasty beverages and more. Devin Hester in a class with Julius Peppers,

You know, just I'm hoping that we can get a sold out crowd with the fans, I know, the fans of traveling, and I just want to, you know, mainly pinpoint that the fans was really really who I chairs when I played in Chicago, like from day in, day out, ups and down, win and lose a draw. Those guys man, to be honest, but really really motivated me every week to come out and try to do my best.

Well.

I know they appreciate hearing that because you brought them up out of their chairs, that's for sure. Devin, thank you so much for taking the time. Enjoy the whole experience. All right, we'll see you in Canton.

All right. Appreciate you, guys, Thanks Devin.

Special thanks to Devin Ester for tim there. I'm Jeff Joniac. Thanks for listening. Everybody.

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