Pro Football Hall of Fame Voters Snubbed Devin Hester AGAIN
Devin Hester’s day will come.
Soon, even.
But not soon enough.
And, unfortunately, not tonight.
Hester didn’t get the call to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. What a bummer.
It marks the second straight year in which Hester falls short after making it to the round of finalists. And that’ll gnaw at me for a bit this evening.
In the meantime, here are the HOF inductees for the class of 2023:
Hester should’ve been in last year, but I understood why he didn’t make the cut (even if I didn’t agree with it). However, I thought things might be different this year. Hester’s credentials didn’t change. Plus, it was easy for me to talk myself into the Hall of Fame’s voters having a specialist wait until the second ballot. After all, there is a reason (many, actually — but that is a different post for a different day) special teamers are underrepresented in Canton. Even still … I held out hope that Hester would get his time to shine this year. The idea of No. 23 getting his flowers as part of the class of ’23 was enchanting. It just wasn’t meant to be. Life is like that sometimes.
I still maintain that Hester will get in. He is the best to ever do it at his position. Those guys get into the Hall, even if they’re specialists. His highlights are as jaw-dropping now after seeing them a billion times as they were when I saw them live. Hester was so excellent, he was a game-changer. Both in terms of being dynamic on-the-field with the ball in his hands *AND* in the most literal sense. Keep in mind that teams switched their game plans when kicking to him. And eventually, the NFL made rule tweaks that changed the return game as we know it.
At the end of the day, Hester’s résumé speaks for itself. And it says the best there is, was, or ever will be is eventually heading to Canton. That it won’t happen this year doesn’t diminish any of his accomplishments. If it is any consolation, Devin knows he is getting in. His day will come. I’m sure of it. And so is he.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch some highlights. Join me, please. It’ll make our night go better.
