Why kick to devin hester

I can see the whole thing. Oh, no! It was devastating. Vinatieri: Me versus Devin Hester in the open field? Come on now. Unfortunately, for me, it was really a direct open-field tackle. Most of the time, as a kicker, you might have an angle to force him toward the sideline or let your pursuit come and help out. Hester: When I squared him up and looked him in the eye, there was like this puzzled look in his eye.

Where is everybody at? So when he got the ball and made somebody miss, I got a little head start on him. I started going, anticipating him taking off. I took off, he hit hyperdrive. And I tried to run him down. If Matt has another 10 yards, he would have got him. Matt just had that competitive speed. He ran down guys. Just two weeks before, in the AFC championship game, he ran down Patriots return man Ellis Hobbs and got him at the 21 -yard line.

Hagler: Matt was like a soldier to me, like a marine. Matt never got tired. And Matt almost caught Devin at the end of that return. Reid: Devin had already hit top speed and was choking it down a little bit.

So you can see where I kind of geared it down a little bit. Then he popped into the screen. It shocked me. I felt like I already made it.

I geared down, but he was full speed the whole way down. He ended up catching me right at the end. Giordano: That was always in my head, that thought about never quitting. You never know. Especially in a game like that. It might come down to inches on a single play. Hester: Honestly, once I got past the kicker, man, I was just laughing to myself. This is really happening. This is the Super Bowl. And to have the opportunity to house one the opening play of game, what other way would you want to set the tone?

Vinatieri: I remember getting up off the grass. It was not PG what I said. It was a lousy feeling. This is how we freaking start off? And giving them that momentum to start the game was tough. Reid: You feel bad. Because you feel like you let the rest of the team down. Right away. This is your chance to make your mark on history and add to this Super Bowl and the only thing you have to do is get Devin Hester down. Hester: That play we made, man.

To get that ball in the end zone. It was such a relief that we had a great chance to win the Super Bowl. In that moment, for me, what was one of the biggest stages of my life, playing in the Super Bowl and having the opportunity to take the opening kickoff back, man.

I will never forget. But the Colts also scrambled to make adjustments. Reid: That victory helped. Keiaho: I remember having that thought right when he scored.

That same year, about a month before, Ted Ginn actually took the opening kickoff of the national championship game back for a touchdown for Ohio State against Florida.

OK, what do we do? We had to settle down knowing there were 59 minutes left in the game. Dungy: Ginn takes that one all the way back. Ohio State is on fire. This is a big play. Hagler: Regret? Not at all. Game on. But the special teams coach is supposed to be the voice of reason of everything. Kick it hard over to the left side, kick it toward the wing. We kicked it to one of their tight ends Gabe Reid. He picked it up, started running and we knocked it out and forced a turnover.

We got the ball back for our offense. Boiman: That was big. In the driving rain. Our team had a terrible play. Well, now, as a player or a unit, you seek to make up for a mistake you have made or a deficiency. So we had one in the loss column. There was definite relief. Hagler: After that first kickoff, we were pretty steady honestly in shutting their special teams down. Purnell: Adam was aware enough to see where Devin lined up and then kick the ball away from him and use his judgment on the best type of kick to do that.

But they already had seven points on the board. For the last 59 minutes, we did an OK job. We were ready for that task. Toward the end of regular season, we lost three games out of four. Then we got hot in the playoffs. And that continued on through the Super Bowl.

Giordano: Coach Dungy had the premonition. He kind of set the tempo early. He kept saying that all throughout the week and leading up to the game. It relaxed the atmosphere for us. Boiman: We only kicked one more time to him. The answer is Rocky Boiman because I pushed him out of bounds on a punt later in the game. Giordano: We kept our poise and went one play at a time to finish the game off. Dungy: Looking back, now that we won the game, that return really was a thing of beauty.

Grew up a Bears fan. I still root for them now. I loved Walter Payton. Loved Mike Singletary. And I had to do my job — and that was to beat them. But I still I remember feeling that utter devastation. How did this happen? Is this going to be the reason the Bears win the Super Bowl? I promise you. That was the first time that had ever been done in Super Bowl history.

So those guys felt like, hey, we gave up the first opening kickoff return touchdown ever. Purnell: Even when we won, it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

But it would have been very unpleasant if it was a three-point game and we were on the short end of a close loss. That would have been tough to take. Boiman: I always tell people this. If you put a football helmet on for five minutes or five years or 15 years, you dream about winning a Super Bowl. Including preseason, you play 23 or 24 games to get to the Super Bowl. And to make it all that way and fall short of that ultimate goal?

In a way, I felt bad for the Bears, understanding all the hard work and the grind and the injuries and the practices. And to come up short knowing that the chance of getting back is very, very slim? So in addition to that joy of winning, I was relieved and very, very grateful. And that one would be the ultimate.

Hester: That loss becomes more painful as time goes on. As a rookie, that first year making it to the Super Bowl, it came so easy to us. I felt like I would go again. You start appreciating that moment you had. You wish you could have cherished it a little bit more and done a little bit more with it. He finished his career with an NFL-record 20 return touchdowns, a mark that for myriad reasons may stand forever.

Two years from now, Hester will become a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame with the possibility that he could have his bust displayed in Canton, Ohio, as early as August If special teams members of the Colts had their say, the sculptor would be hard at work. Vinatieri: Absolutely, he belongs in the Hall of Fame.

He changed games. Purnell: Absolutely. No one has been as dynamic before him and since. There is no one better than Devin Hester. Dungy: I saw a lot of dangerous returners during my 30 years in the NFL. But Devin was a guy where you knew from probably Week 5 of his rookie year just how truly special he was. And he was still able to do that year after year, over and over.

He was so dangerous. One hundred percent. What he did on special teams and how long you had to train and prepare as an opponent just to stop one man was crazy. And it was that way for a decade. Boiman: We live in a world now where special teams is less and less impactful because of the kickoff rules and the worries about head injuries.

But in that era, he had that ability to change a football game almost single-handedly. He made such an impact on the game. He impacted so much with the preparation the other team had to put in getting ready for him. And now, as a coach and unit, you have to use an abundance of time studying him and working on his returns. Hester: To be honest, it would really mean the world to me to make the Hall of Fame.

I hope I make it. I pray I make it. It would be the icing on the cake for my career. Boiman: I have to say, from that point forward, I was a huge Devin Hester fan. I wanted him to return every one from that point on because it helped me feel a little bit better. Hester: I have a painting of that return in my man cave. And I have a photo in my garage. The painting is actually hand-painted. The artist did it for me.

There were duplicate copies he had made. But I have the hand-painted one. Giordano: He had an electric career. For a decade, he continued to improve on his craft. Some returners just get complacent with one good year. You saw Devin continue to improve as a total football player. Darius Leonard: Colts vs.

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The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. It is highly recommended that you use the latest versions of a supported browser in order to receive an optimal viewing experience. This is why football is so great. Figure it out. Afraid of what Adrian Petersen can do between the tackles? Too bad, make a game plan for it. Is it just a matter of time before the networks showing NFL games do the same for Hester?

In a league filled with challenges that take thirty minutes, announcers that can't get the damn team names right, offsides calls, phantom pass interference calls, ticky tack calls, can't we all agree we want some damn excitement?!