Speaker 1: Cut over that DJ Moore nside touchdown touchdown pair.
Speaker 2: I am Jeff jonahyanch whitz.
Speaker 3: Is on Dottie Go.
Speaker 4: What was like playing for Cochi Gooddom.
Speaker 2: I don't want to answer any questions like that. Pressure
Speaker 2: coming is a big trouble.
Speaker 1: Dottie Go motest Sweaty Bears, et Cetera, brought to you
Speaker 1: by Miller Lighte with the voices of the Bears, Jeff
Speaker 1: Jonia and Tom Thayer. Training camp going strong with fans
Speaker 1: starting to arrive at the pad's about to come on,
Speaker 1: and we're also looking forward to the Pro Football Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame and the arrival of one Devin Hester, days
Speaker 1: away from his entrance into the hallid halls of Canton,
Speaker 1: Ohio and induction. Devin appreciate you joining us here on
Speaker 1: the Bears et Cetera Podcast.
Speaker 2: This is episode eighty one.
Speaker 1: Were brought to you by Miller Lyte, Jeff Jona Yank
Speaker 1: here with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer, and
Speaker 1: you are our special guest.
Speaker 2: What are your emails right now?
Speaker 4: I mean, it's just it's more nervous than anything for me.
Speaker 4: It's really the only thing that I'm stressing over is
Speaker 4: just the speech. Everything else is going pretty good, the
Speaker 4: planning and tickets, the hotels, all that stuff, and pretty
Speaker 4: good for me is just really preparing for the speech,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, just so many people, I
Speaker 4: want to think, trying to make sure I don't leave
Speaker 4: any the important people left out.
Speaker 5: Other than that, and just enjoying it. Time is it's
Speaker 5: smoothing a little slow right now, so I'm ready to
Speaker 5: get well.
Speaker 1: See, in the old days, I don't you know, I
Speaker 1: remember going. I've covered several Hall of Fame induction speeches,
Speaker 1: and I remember Steve Young's time you might remember his
Speaker 1: was so long, I mean it was. Now they give
Speaker 1: you a time what is the time limit? And do
Speaker 1: they really impress upon you that you have to adhere
Speaker 1: to it? And that would lead to me wondering too, yea,
Speaker 1: how do you? How do you thank everybody?
Speaker 4: So first off they they we have a new guy
Speaker 4: that runs it now, Jim Porter. Yeah, and his mindset
Speaker 4: is this is you guys. They you know, at first
Speaker 4: they had a time limit, and of course a couple
Speaker 4: of guys who went over the time limit.
Speaker 5: But he pretty much said, hey, I want to.
Speaker 4: Make your speech, tell you a certain time listening it's
Speaker 4: your day. However you feel if you want to thank
Speaker 4: the whole world, then of course we don't want you
Speaker 4: to belt there for hours, but you know, hopefully you
Speaker 4: can get ten minutes to twenty minutes in that'd be perfect.
Speaker 4: So that's kind of where we're at right now. I've
Speaker 4: been practicing a little bit. I'm around the fifteen minute marks.
Speaker 4: I feel like that that's pretty good. But other than that,
Speaker 4: just taking it day by day.
Speaker 3: Hey, Devin, So, the opportunity to get in the Hall
Speaker 3: of Fame, there's obviously a year of disappointment when you
Speaker 3: were overlooked, but then there's that year of excitement when
Speaker 3: you were you were going to be presented into the
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame. Can you talk about the two different
Speaker 3: sides of the emotion for you, the disappointment, but how
Speaker 3: it led up to the excitement each year sold this.
Speaker 5: I didn't get into my third year and.
Speaker 4: The first two years I made the finalist to the
Speaker 4: top ten every the first two years.
Speaker 5: And the way it works, if they give you a.
Speaker 4: Call, even if you make it or you don't, and
Speaker 4: let you know, and each phone call it was hey man,
Speaker 4: we're sorry.
Speaker 5: You was right at the boy again.
Speaker 4: The first two years, I was the last person to
Speaker 4: get cut. So they picked five out the six man
Speaker 4: two years in a row, and they was like, man,
Speaker 4: it happened again. And I was like, well, I'm the
Speaker 4: six guy again again this year. And you're like, yeah,
Speaker 4: You're like, but listen, you're so close, man. We've been
Speaker 4: rooting for year. So they listen, we know that your
Speaker 4: time is coming. This is not a question. So that's
Speaker 4: something that you don't don't have to worry about. We
Speaker 4: just it's a matter of time that it will happen.
Speaker 4: In the third strike was a charm. And they called
Speaker 4: me and said, hey, well they didn't call them. So
Speaker 4: when they didn't call me, that's when I knew I made.
Speaker 3: The third strike is a charm. That's a great line
Speaker 3: by you use it in your use it in your speech.
Speaker 3: You know what's interesting about you, Devin, is all the
Speaker 3: Hall of famers that I played with, whether Richard Dan
Speaker 3: or Dan Hampton or Mike Singletary or Jimbo Walter, Baton Walter.
Speaker 3: You know, they all played a position and they were
Speaker 3: embraced by the Bears fans. The more I read about you,
Speaker 3: the more that you're embraced by the nation of football fans.
Speaker 3: And I think that's pretty cool and unique in the
Speaker 3: own right because you captured an audience with your skills
Speaker 3: around the world, not just in the Chicago land area.
Speaker 3: So I mean, you have to appreciate that in terms
Speaker 3: of what your career and what you were able to accomplish,
Speaker 3: and you know, just the opportunity to get in the
Speaker 3: Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4: It's it's it's truely, honestly, you know, not only to
Speaker 4: be loved by just to see a Chicago but nationwide.
Speaker 4: I know, my first year up for the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 4: I know that I was the fan voting leader, you know,
Speaker 4: and this is we had some of the top guys
Speaker 4: in there three years ago and I lay in fan
Speaker 4: votes for the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 5: So you know, it's just that that's a testimony to show.
Speaker 4: That, Hey, you know, I mean you not only love
Speaker 4: about Chicago natives, but you're your your nation wide.
Speaker 5: You have so many, so many fans that love you
Speaker 5: and and they show.
Speaker 2: Heck, Devin, it's worldwide.
Speaker 1: How many how many emails or Twitter messages or Instagram
Speaker 1: have you gotten from other countries fans? Because the Bears
Speaker 1: have a massive fan base in Europe, especially in London, Germany.
Speaker 1: Uh people tell me Japan. I mean, have you felt
Speaker 1: that at all internationally?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: Yeah, most definitely even and it always starts off, Hey
Speaker 4: I'm a Jets fan, or hey I'm a Packer fan,
Speaker 4: or hey I'm Detroit or whatever for the nine a
Speaker 4: fan or whatever.
Speaker 5: The case may be. But I gotta give you your props.
Speaker 4: You are the most dangerous guy, best returning to ever
Speaker 4: walk the face of the earth. And I get that
Speaker 4: so much from guys whenever they do a post about
Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame or quote that somebody may posts
Speaker 4: on Instagram or Twitter. You read the comments and it's
Speaker 4: all nationwise fans. I'm all over that's coming in on
Speaker 4: that Senate. This guy is really who he really are.
Speaker 1: Busy Heart, Seltzer Flavors for every vibe, Celebrate Responsibly, Molten
Speaker 1: Cores Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. All right, So back to
Speaker 1: the speech a minute, And is this gonna be kind
Speaker 1: of the first time that you're gonna get to a
Speaker 1: podium and give a speech And this is about your
Speaker 1: professional life and the pinnacle of achievement in the Pro
Speaker 1: Football Hall of Fame, And is anybody helping you write it.
Speaker 4: So of course I had a couple of speeches growing
Speaker 4: up in the elementary, in middle school, high school, but
Speaker 4: really it wasn't about me, It wasn't about football, it
Speaker 4: wasn't really about my life. This one is really really
Speaker 4: based on the moment I was born to the man
Speaker 4: I am today, and when I look back at this speech,
Speaker 4: this speech is really about.
Speaker 5: To me.
Speaker 4: It's the last award you can get in professional football.
Speaker 4: There's no other ward that you can get outside of
Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame. There's no other ward that's that's
Speaker 4: out there to get. And so for me, this award here, man,
Speaker 4: is me telling my journey how I got to this
Speaker 4: point and what types of help did I get along
Speaker 4: the way to get me to this point, and just
Speaker 4: a life dream as a child run I want to
Speaker 4: do for a professional football player, and just all in
Speaker 4: the nuts, that's just what it.
Speaker 2: Took, you know, Devin.
Speaker 3: I think anybody, any of us that have played football
Speaker 3: and dedicated our life to it, there's a coach that
Speaker 3: started at all for me. It was a guy named
Speaker 3: Rocky Carnegie who started the Pop Warner program in Joliet, Illinois.
Speaker 3: And he came and said look, I think you should
Speaker 3: play football. When you think about your speech, is there
Speaker 3: a guy first guy to say, Man, this guy is special,
Speaker 3: I need you on the football field.
Speaker 4: I think my situation was a looked different. You know,
Speaker 4: we went Florida. That's all we did wast was played football.
Speaker 4: And so amongst our periods, the player, the kids that
Speaker 4: I grew up with, we all just kind of just
Speaker 4: bonded and we'd all played in one community.
Speaker 5: And it was more so whenever the big.
Speaker 4: Sign sold up saying registration time to sign up for football,
Speaker 4: it was just what we did.
Speaker 3: So when you when you got into football, how long
Speaker 3: did it take for a coacher for you to recognize
Speaker 3: that some of your skills are going to be on
Speaker 3: the special teams? You know, there's not everybody can't go
Speaker 3: out there and catch punts. There's not a lot of
Speaker 3: guys that have the guts to return kickoffs. So how
Speaker 3: early were you when you realize that this can be
Speaker 3: a major part of my future.
Speaker 5: I would say it.
Speaker 4: Started at an early age because you know, of course,
Speaker 4: everybody with talent growing up in part one to either
Speaker 4: play quarterback and running back. That's just that's just no braining.
Speaker 4: When when you're the best player on the team, they
Speaker 4: put your quarterback and running back.
Speaker 5: And so.
Speaker 4: After the first day of truts, that was my position,
Speaker 4: quarterback and running back. And so coaches always trying to
Speaker 4: find a way to get their best guys, get the
Speaker 4: ball in the best guy hands, and so of course
Speaker 4: me being one of the best guys with the ball
Speaker 4: in my hand, they say kickoff and part return the
Speaker 4: call you go back there to the return it, and
Speaker 4: so that kind of just.
Speaker 5: Stuck with me.
Speaker 4: It was always another opportunity to showcase my talent, to
Speaker 4: get my hands on the ball and to get us
Speaker 4: an end zone.
Speaker 3: How'd you find the lineman? You know, you gotta you
Speaker 3: gotta have a group of linemen. Don't don't take us
Speaker 3: out of the game. How'd you find those guys back
Speaker 3: in when you were growing up.
Speaker 4: It was it was always back in the days at
Speaker 4: easier to find lineman because we it was just one
Speaker 4: big community, you know, and so the lineman couldn't get
Speaker 4: left out. You know, those guys are going to play
Speaker 4: football too, So they say, hey, if you overhearded clouds,
Speaker 4: you're on the line.
Speaker 1: You know, it's such a fertile area for talent down
Speaker 1: there too, so many great players, and it's it's it's
Speaker 1: a conveyor belt. They're still coming in the league from
Speaker 1: all areas of Florida and the South for that matter.
Speaker 1: You can make a case the whole Florida Georgia argument.
Speaker 2: You know that.
Speaker 1: But you know when when when you return the opening
Speaker 1: kickoff touchdown in the Super Bowl, and I said, from
Speaker 1: Riviera Beach, Florida to the biggest stage in sports, Devin Hester,
Speaker 1: you are ridiculous.
Speaker 2: You know that was an It was in your backyard.
Speaker 1: You could not have scripted that any better than that,
Speaker 1: the biggest stage in sports. And here you take the
Speaker 1: opening kickoff for a touchdown that calls in the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame. Now you'll be in the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: with your bus. You got the gold jacket. I mean,
Speaker 1: can you put that on perspective, that particular moment in time,
Speaker 1: out of all the big returns of your career.
Speaker 5: I think that really really solidified who I really was.
Speaker 4: You know, I just did a commercial shoot with Josh
Speaker 4: Cribben and D'Angelo Dante I'm sorry, Dante Hall, and we
Speaker 4: got the opportunity to have, you know, an hour to
Speaker 4: sit down and talk during lunch, and the one thing
Speaker 4: they did say was, hey, man, like, as a returner,
Speaker 4: you know, we going games, we don't have pressure because
Speaker 4: we don't have people talking about, Okay, are you going
Speaker 4: to return one this week?
Speaker 5: Are you?
Speaker 4: Are you guys gonna get a touchdown on the return game?
Speaker 4: But he said they were saying, like the situation that
Speaker 4: you was in when you played in the Super Bowl
Speaker 4: and it was just talked about for weeks and weeks,
Speaker 4: will you return one?
Speaker 5: Like that's a lot.
Speaker 2: Of pressure, Like so you felt it, you felt it?
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, you get that.
Speaker 4: In regular game. Hey, they're gonna take the returns back
Speaker 4: this week? You know, Okay, okay, yeah, I possibly can't.
Speaker 4: But when you're in the national biggest game of the
Speaker 4: year and it's getting tald about you seeing casino bets
Speaker 4: and all these draft king bets coming up, and you're like, wow,
Speaker 4: I gotta try to win some of these people money.
Speaker 4: You're getting all the report going on with everybody that's fresh.
Speaker 1: The funny thing is on the actual radio call, you're
Speaker 1: not aware of this, I'm certain, but I'm going crazy.
Speaker 1: Tom's going crazy. Tom's saying, no way, how did this happen?
Speaker 1: And Tom said Hey, did somebody just win a TV?
Speaker 1: Because we had a contest at the radio station all
Speaker 1: year if somebody went returned to the opening kickoff for
Speaker 1: a touchdown, they'd win. A sharp awkwas television. So some
Speaker 1: women won a TV because of you. So, I mean
Speaker 1: that's crazy stuff. Uh, but you know we'll never forget it,
Speaker 1: that's for sure. Tastes like Midller time go to Miller,
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Speaker 3: So devins. As an offensive lineman, we study tape and
Speaker 3: we study tape of our opponent, and we kind of
Speaker 3: look at the flow, their strength, their weaknesses, their vulnerabilities
Speaker 3: as a kick returner. Is it just how you see
Speaker 3: it at the second or do you spend time watching
Speaker 3: tape of what maybe their vulnerabilities are against the athlete
Speaker 3: like yourself.
Speaker 4: I feel like at this point, you in a return
Speaker 4: game in all phases of the nationals of football, whenever
Speaker 4: you had a skilled position or any position, you have
Speaker 4: to go on a gain knowing who you plan first
Speaker 4: and then going against. So like when we when I
Speaker 4: would watch film, because I would watch film on Mondays
Speaker 4: and Tuesday to get a head start. Coach Day told
Speaker 4: inspired that into me and made me a better player
Speaker 4: about understanding my opponents. But I would watch Tennessee just
Speaker 4: like you guys on old line, who which guy is
Speaker 4: out there that really don't want to be out there?
Speaker 5: You know?
Speaker 4: First off, you know because especially you have a lot
Speaker 4: of guys out there that's probably start on defense or
Speaker 4: offense that really don't want to be out there.
Speaker 5: So he so glimpses of those.
Speaker 4: And then on top of that, you study the kicker,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, kickers A lot of returners,
Speaker 4: Like when I talked to him today, they don't even
Speaker 4: know which side of the kickers trying to go to,
Speaker 4: like kicking the ball to. They can't read the approach
Speaker 4: of the kicker, his alignement, the way he aligned from
Speaker 4: the ball. That they can't.
Speaker 5: They don't. They never looked at that.
Speaker 2: So but you didn't.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, so no one wish where the kicker is
Speaker 5: trying to go.
Speaker 4: As a returner, that means you're getting an opportunity to
Speaker 4: get a jump on the ball because as a returner
Speaker 4: it's hard to catch the ball when you move inside
Speaker 4: the side trying to figure with the ball at But
Speaker 4: when you know where the ball is trying he's trying
Speaker 4: to get ball, you can go ahead and put yourself
Speaker 4: a position where you don't have to do a lot
Speaker 4: of movement.
Speaker 5: You already there to catch the ball.
Speaker 4: And then on top of that, you know, it's just
Speaker 4: understanding your blocking scheme. And when you understand your blocking schein,
Speaker 4: you can make it more easier and you can help
Speaker 4: those guys out even more to put them in a
Speaker 4: better position and make blocks.
Speaker 3: So that opening kickoff of the Super Bowl, Dave Tobin,
Speaker 3: the special teams, they call it a designed return for
Speaker 3: that instant? Did the return open up as the way
Speaker 3: it was called? And did it all work out to
Speaker 3: your vision how you thought it was going to happen.
Speaker 4: The first that I made missed was was unexpected. Thank you,
Speaker 4: it was going to be I thought we had him blocked.
Speaker 4: We supposedly had a man to pick them up, but
Speaker 4: I guess they ran some type of stunt where our
Speaker 4: guys can't get to him, and he appeared in the
Speaker 4: middle of the hole. So that that one move that
Speaker 4: I made in the middle of the hole was.
Speaker 5: I don't want to say it, but that was that
Speaker 5: was all.
Speaker 3: Me And it opened up after that. After that, if
Speaker 3: like from our advantage point of being high up in
Speaker 3: the booth, we could see that, boy, this thing could
Speaker 3: be this thing could be a touchdown after that move.
Speaker 5: Most definitely, man.
Speaker 4: So after I made that one missed and the rest
Speaker 4: everything else, the way we draw it up, it was
Speaker 4: perfectly designed.
Speaker 2: See to me, Devon.
Speaker 1: Somebody asked me about this the other day, a writer
Speaker 1: for a story they're doing on you and just that play,
Speaker 1: and they said, you know, did you ever anticipate, Devon?
Speaker 1: And I said, no, It's hard to anticipate. But I
Speaker 1: will say, whenever you made that sharp could that kicks
Speaker 1: sailed to the far side of the field, and then
Speaker 1: you whenever you got a lane in the middle of
Speaker 1: the field, you were gone. The blocking was there, and
Speaker 1: your speed and your slipperiness and your execution and vision
Speaker 1: was unmatched. And I every time whenever I saw that,
Speaker 1: I knew it was six.
Speaker 2: That's it. It was six.
Speaker 1: And that happened time and time again. The crazy thing
Speaker 1: is that and this is where you and I think
Speaker 1: Tom would agree, when you talk about revolutionize something is
Speaker 1: that punters and the arrogance of the punters or the
Speaker 1: head coach or the special teams coordinator of these other teams,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna kick it to them anyway, Let's see,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get them, and they kick it down the
Speaker 1: middle of the field or they mishit it. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think about that Denver game against Todd Sower run
Speaker 1: he did it, or the.
Speaker 2: Saint Louis Rams game.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was almost flabbergasting because in that two
Speaker 1: year period time when you you know, I don't know
Speaker 1: if people really have studied this, but the thirteen touchdowns
Speaker 1: in the first two years, that's insane. Like it's over
Speaker 1: three thousand return yards and thirteen touchdowns in those two
Speaker 1: years alone.
Speaker 4: I wish, I wish every every special team unit would
Speaker 4: have had their mindset.
Speaker 5: Career right who knows return would have had.
Speaker 2: Oh no, no question.
Speaker 3: You know, it affected the concession stands tales because no
Speaker 3: one wanted to get out of their seat and the
Speaker 3: opening kickoff or fourth down when Deva was on the field.
Speaker 3: And what a heck of a compliment, because like I said,
Speaker 3: I hear it from people all around the country that
Speaker 3: know that I work for the Bears and or had
Speaker 3: a small part of your career. But it's I think
Speaker 3: it's the appreciation and the willingness of the skill of
Speaker 3: the position, because like I said, it's so difficult in
Speaker 3: order to I mean, and the catch punts with vision
Speaker 3: down the field and then make a guy miss in
Speaker 3: the open field because they're great athletes that are coming
Speaker 3: at you. So all that you know is the difficulty.
Speaker 2: Of the job.
Speaker 5: Correct you so much for that.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, the crazy thing is, I mean people
Speaker 1: talk about it and maybe you know, maybe you feel
Speaker 1: this or maybe you know it won't happen. But it's
Speaker 1: a common question will more return men be recognized? And
Speaker 1: there have been some outstanding return Nobody like you, though,
Speaker 1: And that is no disrespect to a guy like say
Speaker 1: Brian Mitchell, who put up a lot of yards, did
Speaker 1: it for a long time. He's never been a finalist.
Speaker 1: You talk about Dante Hall, he was on the human joystick.
Speaker 1: You could talk about a number of guys that you
Speaker 1: know primarily were return men and Billy white Shoes Johnson.
Speaker 1: Billy White Shoes Johnson had a great, ye great career,
Speaker 1: but you were just different. And again, no disrespect to
Speaker 1: any of those men. You were just different and you
Speaker 1: fired up your own teammates to the point that and
Speaker 1: I know Charles Tillman was on. I believe every one
Speaker 1: of those nineteen before you went to Atlanta and got
Speaker 1: the twentieth as a blocker, they wanted to be on there.
Speaker 1: And that that is an ode to your excellence. And
Speaker 1: I mean we had an all star team on that
Speaker 1: punt return unit and the kickoff for tune unit. How
Speaker 1: important was that to you as a teammate.
Speaker 5: It was very important because.
Speaker 4: When guys realized, you know, the what we was capable of,
Speaker 4: it made a big difference in a special team room.
Speaker 4: Like I really felt like out of my four teams
Speaker 4: that I played with the NFL Chicago my first two years,
Speaker 4: we actually felt like we was part of the team.
Speaker 4: And you know, no disrespect to the other special team.
Speaker 5: Units, but that bond that we had.
Speaker 4: My first two years was like we felt like we
Speaker 4: was more important in the offense.
Speaker 5: To be honest, it's important like it was we was
Speaker 5: in and the Bears they felt it.
Speaker 4: So that's why you see sometimes pre game we would
Speaker 4: get recognized coming out because we had earnt guy strife
Speaker 4: that hey, we know the defense.
Speaker 5: They is the defense where.
Speaker 4: They come by and they name all the defensive player
Speaker 4: that everybody did the individual offense, get the individual.
Speaker 5: But listen, it's a new sheriff in town. Man. Like
Speaker 5: we aren't a strikes but.
Speaker 4: We are a third really third phase of the part
Speaker 4: of the team, you know what I mean. We we
Speaker 4: make big plays and hey, we feel like we should
Speaker 4: get out flowers here and there too. So the unit
Speaker 4: that we had in the bond that we had man
Speaker 4: and guys just would get terrified and really really upset
Speaker 4: when Codeto said, hey, man, we're gonna take our special
Speaker 4: team this week.
Speaker 5: Those guys they said, I don't.
Speaker 4: Care what you're not taking kickoff party.
Speaker 5: They really really they they really look forward to the
Speaker 5: return game.
Speaker 3: You know, Devin, you know we're all football fans and
Speaker 3: we pay attention to the game closely. When you go
Speaker 3: back and you look at this past Super Bowl and
Speaker 3: there was no kickoffs returned, how disappointing is that to you?
Speaker 3: Because I think when you look at the difficulty of
Speaker 3: that job in the period of time that you did it,
Speaker 3: it was super challenging. And then you look at these
Speaker 3: returners standing back there fair catching in the field to play.
Speaker 3: Letting these guys not take it four yards deep in
Speaker 3: the end zone. How much of a disappointment is that
Speaker 3: to you?
Speaker 5: It's very disappointing, you know, and.
Speaker 4: It's a sign of lack of respect for who you're
Speaker 4: putting back there, you know, as a special team coach,
Speaker 4: like coach Dave when I was playing, we had agreen
Speaker 4: like nine eight yard deep ends on them come up
Speaker 4: with So you know that that's just a respect and
Speaker 4: we've proven ourselves that hey, it don't matter where they
Speaker 4: keep the ball. If I can get my hands on it,
Speaker 4: we coming out with it regardless. And to me, it's
Speaker 4: just a lack of respect for the returners. If you
Speaker 4: don't have a guy that's catching the ball three four
Speaker 4: yard deep, nends on it and not even to come
Speaker 4: out with it, then as a special team coach, you
Speaker 4: have the wrong got back there or you need to
Speaker 4: find somebody to put back there where you can put
Speaker 4: faith in that this is a key, this could this
Speaker 4: one return could change the momentum of the game.
Speaker 5: And that's what we right now we're lacking.
Speaker 4: It is special team coaches don't have faith in the
Speaker 4: return guys or they just not trying to go out
Speaker 4: and get the return.
Speaker 5: They looking at other positions.
Speaker 3: You know, Devin, when I think of your skill level
Speaker 3: and I think of the new design of the kickoff return,
Speaker 3: Oh my god, Devin, you would return one a game
Speaker 3: for a touchdown. You would be you would be in
Speaker 3: a if they gave you that crease, if that gave
Speaker 3: you that impactful double team. I don't see anybody being
Speaker 3: able to catch you. And I you know, I'm so
Speaker 3: happy for you to go in the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 3: but I'm going. Man. Just think if Devon was still
Speaker 3: in the game, he would change the game.
Speaker 5: And it's the situation.
Speaker 4: They got it now you have no choice but let
Speaker 4: him return it now like you go. You're gonna see
Speaker 4: the return rate go from maybe ten to maybe eighty
Speaker 4: five percent in the first year.
Speaker 2: With no hangtime, Devin, no hangtime.
Speaker 4: And can't nobody can't move until I catch the ball.
Speaker 4: That's that's the greatest thing about it. I catch the
Speaker 4: ball and the ten yards away from each other, and
Speaker 4: then once I catch the ball, he is one one line.
Speaker 5: It's like it's not staggered or nothing. So you find
Speaker 5: one crease and you out.
Speaker 4: Of there and you can cancel Christmas with him.
Speaker 1: I am worried though that you know kicker they're going
Speaker 1: to be The coaches will be fearful in the early
Speaker 1: going and have touchbacks and give up, you know, because
Speaker 1: it's it's five yards.
Speaker 2: I mean they're giving.
Speaker 5: Out what what what they're going to do right now
Speaker 5: or squip.
Speaker 4: It is, they're going to find safeties and dvs to
Speaker 4: learn how to kick. It's gonna take the kickers out
Speaker 4: the game now because you find a safety DV that
Speaker 4: can kick, you put them back there because it's gonna
Speaker 4: be fie one on one titles.
Speaker 5: That's what's gonna happen because.
Speaker 4: Right now, it ain't no offside kicks really, there's no
Speaker 4: really no squib kicks like that. So now you have
Speaker 4: to kick it and if you kick it too far,
Speaker 4: it's a penalty.
Speaker 2: Right right, you have within the.
Speaker 5: Twenty five yard As a normal person, you should be
Speaker 5: able to do that.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't shock me that the first special teams coordinator
Speaker 1: to pull that would be Dave Tobe.
Speaker 2: He's got a guy could do that.
Speaker 1: When it's time to tackle some game day deals, then
Speaker 1: go with a grocer has been a part of Chicago
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Speaker 1: The Chicago Bears are brought to you by PNC Official
Speaker 1: Bank of the Bears. Devin, I'm sure you have a
Speaker 1: lot of invitations out and guys wanted to come and
Speaker 1: pay respects to your Hall of Fame career teammates. Give us,
Speaker 1: give us some of the names that'll be showing up
Speaker 1: there in Canton with you. And then you gotta also
Speaker 1: tell me about your mom and she is your presenter.
Speaker 6: Wana Brown, a couple guys course, Jason Key, Johnny Knos, Brandon, Danegel,
Speaker 6: Hana Hite, Hilamar, Patsion Manley, the list goes on. Yeah,
Speaker 6: it's a lot of guys, agent piece and it's a
Speaker 6: ton of guys coming out there.
Speaker 2: A lot of good men right there.
Speaker 5: Yes, uh person, they tickets, got their hotel, so.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be a uh family reunion once the party stars.
Speaker 2: And then how about Mom? What?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 2: What?
Speaker 1: What aligned you to have her be your presenter. I'm
Speaker 1: sure you thought about some other options, but you can't
Speaker 1: beat mom, right, you can't beat Mom.
Speaker 4: It's a ton of guys that I had in mind,
Speaker 4: but it's nobody that adds up to what my mom did,
Speaker 4: and so I felt like, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: for me, the most important person in the world for me,
Speaker 4: that really really guided me and got me to the point.
Speaker 5: What's my mom? And so that's why I picked it.
Speaker 2: Is she nervous?
Speaker 4: Yeah, oh yeah, she's more nervous than me.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 4: She called me every other day, every other day, asking
Speaker 4: me about it. I'm like, mar it's the same answer
Speaker 4: I get you two days ago, is.
Speaker 5: A just be ready.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll be something for sure, you know, Devin.
Speaker 3: I was looking at some pictures of you this morning
Speaker 3: and from teams of different jerseys, but I really only
Speaker 3: remember you in a Bears jersey. I played my last year.
Speaker 3: After playing my career for the Bears, I went and
Speaker 3: played a year for the Miami Dolphins. And then when
Speaker 3: I walked away, I was comfortable with walking away from
Speaker 3: the game when you knew it was over. Were you
Speaker 3: comfortable with that part of your life knowing it was over?
Speaker 4: I was comfortable because I I know I as a
Speaker 4: player of me in the vision, you probably felt the
Speaker 4: saying that you left a lot of players out there,
Speaker 4: You know what I mean, You left a lot of
Speaker 4: players on the field out there, and it's something that
Speaker 4: you felt like you didn't show that you could have
Speaker 4: was capable of showing. I left because of the injury
Speaker 4: I had on my told that I knew I wasn't
Speaker 4: gonna be the Devin Hester that everybody wanted me to be.
Speaker 4: And so that's the reason why I told myself when
Speaker 4: I got and played the.
Speaker 5: Last game of Seattle that.
Speaker 4: I left out with a bang is how I felt
Speaker 4: my last game of my career. Like if you take
Speaker 4: away the penalties I had over three hundred yards returning
Speaker 4: in the playoff game.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 4: That that was a statement that said, hey, even with
Speaker 4: a bum told and a seventy five percent Devin Huston
Speaker 4: can't nobody mentione.
Speaker 3: So you know, from all your experiences throughout your professional
Speaker 3: career and now you have the opportunity to speak to
Speaker 3: youth and coach youth when you kind of give them
Speaker 3: advice or you're thinking about what you're gonna say to them,
Speaker 3: is a lot of it from the examples of your
Speaker 3: experience through your sports life.
Speaker 5: And yeah, most definitely.
Speaker 4: Then that's for me, that's the only way I can
Speaker 4: relate to anybody. I speak facts on what I have experienced,
Speaker 4: what I heard or what I think. I only go
Speaker 4: based off from my experience and what got me there
Speaker 4: and what made me so successful. Because hey, if you're
Speaker 4: hearing it from me and this is what I did,
Speaker 4: then of course you're gonna go off with it. But
Speaker 4: if you're just making up in scenarios like you're saying,
Speaker 4: this is what people normally say to do, then I
Speaker 4: don't like to give my opinion when it's coming from
Speaker 4: somebody else.
Speaker 5: I can only get my opinion from what I have experienced.
Speaker 4: So that being said, when I talk to my youth,
Speaker 4: when I talk to my team, I only tell them
Speaker 4: my experience and what I did and the things I
Speaker 4: had to go to and what made me better and
Speaker 4: hopefully it can work for you.
Speaker 1: Devin, you got the gold jacket. We saw the Twitter
Speaker 1: video with your kids. You are slow playing it real
Speaker 1: dramatic or take us through that and how cool is this?
Speaker 2: How cool is this that you get to celebrate this
Speaker 2: with your wife and your children.
Speaker 5: It's because for me, I'm a family guy.
Speaker 4: If you guys don't know that, I know, I mean
Speaker 4: you can kind of see on my Instagram, my.
Speaker 5: Twitter and things like that.
Speaker 4: Every thing I do is it's all family, family, or
Speaker 4: it's never a time where I'm not doing anything really
Speaker 4: individual unless I'm playing golf.
Speaker 5: I'm always a family guy.
Speaker 4: So my last fifteen sixteen, seventeen years, I built the
Speaker 4: relationship and I built my own family where those are
Speaker 4: the guys. I'm around twenty four seven, and so it
Speaker 4: was an honor to see the process. You know, my
Speaker 4: first child, you know what I mean, My second child,
Speaker 4: my third child, and we all grew up in the
Speaker 4: same household. And the night is the countless days where
Speaker 4: I come home sometime I'm frustrated, I may have a
Speaker 4: bad practice, and they see all that. And then there's days,
Speaker 4: well I'm coming out of the locker room and I
Speaker 4: just returned to kick off for a punt, you know
Speaker 4: what I mean, for a touchdown, like they see the
Speaker 4: ups and the downs in the roller coaster, and so
Speaker 4: to share that moment with them and say, hey, listen
Speaker 4: to my kids. That's playing sports right now. Hey listen,
Speaker 4: I'm an example of a testimony. And hey, everything I
Speaker 4: went through is not gonna be perfect. But if you
Speaker 4: could team and work in and he continue to do
Speaker 4: the small thing that that's important, then hopefully one day,
Speaker 4: it'll happen to you.
Speaker 1: So Steve McMichael going in as well, Julius Pepper, Steve's
Speaker 1: second in the order, Jared Payton, the presenter. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of embarrassed connections here for the franchise
Speaker 1: that has the most Hall of famers.
Speaker 2: What is the impact of you on you?
Speaker 1: With that, and of course with Steve battling to stay
Speaker 1: alive just so he can, you know, experience this moment,
Speaker 1: how he's going to experience it from his from his
Speaker 1: bed in Joel and h where's.
Speaker 2: He living again? And Homer Glenn.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I've been I've been hearing stories about that situation.
Speaker 5: I didn't I know.
Speaker 4: They always trying to make a rangements for him to
Speaker 4: bring the bed and everything like that, and they said
Speaker 4: it was not positive that that would happen. But I
Speaker 4: know that they're saying he's fighting really really because he
Speaker 4: wants to be here for that moment.
Speaker 5: And so.
Speaker 4: I really can't tell you how that how he feels,
Speaker 4: because I'm not in his shoes, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: But looking in from the outside, you know what I mean,
Speaker 4: it's a tough situation, you know what I mean, for
Speaker 4: him to finally make it, but he's in the situation
Speaker 4: that he's in where he's really really not really able
Speaker 4: to celebrate you know, the events that we've been having
Speaker 4: from traveling back and forth from Kendall Height. I know
Speaker 4: his wife and missus been there in his place, but
Speaker 4: as a player, you know, you at your and your mindset.
Speaker 5: I want to be there. I don't want nobody have to.
Speaker 7: Go through all the festivities and to be able to
Speaker 7: go in and do the bus and to do all
Speaker 7: the activities that a lot of people don't know that
Speaker 7: we do before it leads up to the actual ceremony.
Speaker 4: But it's a lot of opportunities, a lot of the
Speaker 4: great experience that you're able to do leading up to
Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame. And I'm just it's tough for
Speaker 4: a guy, like any any Hall of Famer to miss
Speaker 4: those those activities.
Speaker 5: Man and been on the main stage.
Speaker 4: Is just being on the stage of being able to
Speaker 4: thank every person that's evolved in your life, you know.
Speaker 5: I mean, I know that son that he really really
Speaker 5: wanted to do.
Speaker 3: You know, Devin, on that Hall of Fame Saturday, You're
Speaker 3: gonna be a Hall of Famer in reality for the
Speaker 3: first time in your life to about a week and
Speaker 3: a half ago, I went to a dinner with twenty
Speaker 3: Hall of Famers from around the country. And these guys
Speaker 3: that have been in the Hall of Fame now ten
Speaker 3: to fifteen, to five whatever, however many years can you
Speaker 3: imagine a year from now when you're Devin Hester the
Speaker 3: Hall of Famer, when you get around these other gold
Speaker 3: jackets and you're able to celebrate, hug and handshake with
Speaker 3: these guys that are in such a small fraternity of success,
Speaker 3: and you think about your future as a Hall of Famer,
Speaker 3: it's got to be really rewarding to think about what
Speaker 3: you've earned, achieved in how it's gonna work itsself out.
Speaker 2: It's how it's gonna work its way out over the years.
Speaker 4: Most definitely, man, because when I talk to a couple
Speaker 4: of the Hall of Family, it's just they said that
Speaker 4: it's one of two things you can't take away in life.
Speaker 4: You can't take away your diploma. You can't take away
Speaker 4: your mother, your dad, you know what I mean. That's
Speaker 4: always gonna be your mom, that's always gonna be your dad.
Speaker 4: But then the second thing on the list is you
Speaker 4: can't take away that gold jacket. Once you get that
Speaker 4: gold jacket, it's yours for life. And so for me,
Speaker 4: this is once I get this jacket. It's just like
Speaker 4: I said, it's a living testimony of greatness. It's only
Speaker 4: three hundred and seventy eight people that can say, right,
Speaker 4: I am a professional Hall of Famer when it comes
Speaker 4: to football.
Speaker 5: Out of millions of guys that play this game of football.
Speaker 4: We're not even talking about just NFL, but guy that
Speaker 4: tried to play it, the pop one that didn't make it,
Speaker 4: guy that trade to try to play in high school
Speaker 4: and then paying out college wife didn't get drafted.
Speaker 5: So it's so many football club that tried this profession
Speaker 5: of sports, but merit down to three.
Speaker 4: Hundred and seventy eight and they say, hey, I'm one
Speaker 4: of those guys.
Speaker 5: Is rid of honor?
Speaker 2: It surely is tastes like milder time.
Speaker 1: Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories
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Speaker 1: beverages and more. Devin Hester in a class with Julius Peppers,
Speaker 1: Dwight Freeney when you played in the Super Bowl. In
Speaker 1: that game, Andre Johnson, the Houston Texans first Hall of Famer,
Speaker 1: and Patrick Willis the great linebacker the San Francisco forty
Speaker 1: nine ers. Of course, Steve McMichael is also prominent. That
Speaker 1: list quite the class. A final thought from you on
Speaker 1: just what you're about to experience because I watch you,
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta be a selfish on this trip, right,
Speaker 1: This is this is the trip that you're only gonna
Speaker 1: make one time when you're being honored. You'll go back
Speaker 1: every year and enjoy the gold jacket experience, but be
Speaker 1: selfish on this trip, Devin. Soak it all in you
Speaker 1: and your family, all right, and enjoy every every last
Speaker 1: bit of it because you're going to take that with
Speaker 1: you for the rest of your life and you can
Speaker 1: spread the news about what it was like. So any
Speaker 1: any final thoughts.
Speaker 4: You know, just I'm hoping that we can get a
Speaker 4: sold out crowd with the fans, I know, the fans
Speaker 4: of traveling, and I just want to, you know, mainly
Speaker 4: pinpoint that the fans was really really who I chairs
Speaker 4: when I played in Chicago, like from day in, day out,
Speaker 4: ups and down, win and lose a draw. Those guys man,
Speaker 4: to be honest, but really really motivated me every week
Speaker 4: to come out and try to do my best.
Speaker 3: Well.
Speaker 1: I know they appreciate hearing that because you brought them
Speaker 1: up out of their chairs, that's for sure. Devin, thank
Speaker 1: you so much for taking the time. Enjoy the whole experience.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll see you in Canton.
Speaker 5: All right. Appreciate you, guys, Thanks Devin.
Speaker 2: Special thanks to Devin Ester for tim there. I'm Jeff Joniac.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. Everybody.
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Speaker 2: Bear Down Everybody,