Devin Hester should be in the Hall of Fame

During Super Bowl Week, Devin Hester had the expectation of greatness. The NFL announced the former players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the 2022 class; the list was composed of many legends of the game, such as Tony Boselli, LeRoy Butler and Richard Seymour, but Hester was a notable omission from the inductees that proves the election is still flawed.

Hester is the best special teams player of all time. That’s not even debatable: he was a brutal force as a returner and every team was afraid to kick the ball to him. Even though Hester never developed into a great wide receiver, he was also important in the passing game. But his main impact was as a returner.

The fact that Hester was not one of the inductees shows how much the process is flawed. Hester was part of two (!) All-Decade NFL Teams, also registering four elections to the All-Pro and four Pro Bowl honors. He was really, really good at what he did, and much more important, nobody came close to him at a very important part of the game.

The NFL’s message with Hester out of the Hall of Fame: Special Teams Don’t Matter.

If the greatest special teams player ever can’t get into the hall, who will? You look at Justin Tucker, Adam Vinatieri, and okay, these guys will make it – kickers actually have a standing chance. But Hester was a major threat when he had the ball in his hands and the NFL basically said that kick returners aren’t important.

Obviously, there will be new opportunities for Hester to get inducted, but this was a year without many locks, and he definitely deserved one of the five inductions. We can only hope the league and the PFHOF voters will realize the mistake they made and give him the recognition he deserves.