Devin Hester, a Hall of Famer?

He is better...at punt returns. Cribbs is better on kickoffs and playing gunner...well, because Devin Hester can't tackle. Cribbs can.

 

Horrible receiver, great return man. So, with that logic, he is in between and, thus, a solid but not great player. And as someone else noted, Tasker is still waiting to get the call...

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-aikman-hester-merits-consideration-for-hall-of-fame-20111003,0,6167274.story

 

I wanted to mention Scifres before as a punter who has made an impact on the game. He didn't score any points, but he won that game for the Chargers.

 

Sigh.

Ok, did I say Johnson was the GREATEST OF ALL TIME? No, I didn't.

But he was selected as the punt returner for the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team:

http://www.nfl.com/photos/09000d5d808fe7f2#id:09000d5d808e876e

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_75th_Anniversary_All-Time_Team

While I realize most of the board never saw him play, being selected to be on the 75th anniversary team shows he had a little bit of ability, I would think, that makes mention of him acceptable. Or not.

But he did have the Funky Chicken.

 

I'm surpised they included special teams on the all-time team. Prior to Hester, Johnson would be the man.

 

Shoes was a pretty damn good receiver, too, and a pleasure to deal with.

 

No. Didn't have to think about it.

 

Bump.

 

I haven't read the rest of the thread, but I'd say no. He's been a game changer as a punt returner, but it's hard to put someone in Hall of Fame who could have been an even greater asset to his team if he had even average hands as a receiver.

 

I think so. And I think as time goes on and people really grasp what special teams means to an offense, that will only help him. If I'm understanding pro-football-reference's stats correctly, the Bears ranked fourth, first, second, second, first, 21st, third and 23rd in average starting offensive starting position (clearly you can tell the years he wasn't as effective).

Now, the Bears offense was largely terrible after the Super Bowl year, but I'm positive Lovie Smith and those offensive players will say in a HOF campaign they couldn't have scored enough points to go 73-55 in that time without Hester setting them up for "easier" points (someone else can do all the grunt work on direct correlation!)

Hester probably needed this late-career boost on national TV like this when the rules have changed, just to show he that transcended "eras." He's also had so many of these prime time moments - people can remember not just the Super Bowl, but the the multiple MNF and SNF highlights. That matters, too - especially when you're talking about a specialist.

 

First black man to moon the entire nation in prime time IIRC.