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This is one of the interviews D.A. is most proud of in his long career.
Pro Football Hall of Famer Devin Hester joins D.A. for a wide-ranging, fascinating deep dive into a career that redefined special teams forever.
They revisit:
The iconic kickoff return to open the Super Bowl
What it really means for special teams players to reach Canton
Whether Steve Tasker belongs in the Hall of Fame
Hester’s legendary Miami teams and unreal college talent
The myth that his production “tailed off” — and why teams simply stopped kicking to him to avoid embarrassment
Hester explains how fear changed the way opponents played him — and how dominance doesn’t always show up in the box score.
This isn’t just a career retrospective.
It’s a conversation about respect, impact, and rewriting the rules.
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0:00
I have one of the greats in football
0:02
history joining me here on the show. He
0:04
is a multi-time all decade team member.
0:07
He made the all decade team two
0:09
different decades in the NFL which is a
0:12
real rarity. He's a member of the Pro
0:14
Football Hall of Fame. He's one of the
0:15
great kick returners of all time.
0:18
Joining us here on the show is Devin
0:21
Hester. Devin, how we doing?
0:23
Pretty good. Pretty good, man. How about
0:25
yourself, man? First off, appreciate you
0:27
having me on the show, man.
0:28
My pleasure. This is really a pleasure
0:30
for me and I was thinking about you
0:32
watching the championship games because
0:34
we had special teams plays that dictated
0:38
both games. The muffed punt in the NFC
0:40
Championship game leads to a short field
0:42
and a score for the Seahawks. We had a
0:44
deflected field goal that was a big
0:46
reason why the Patriots won the AFC
0:48
Championship game. When you see special
0:50
teams play a big part in teams going
0:52
into the Super Bowl, does it warm your
0:54
heart?
0:55
It does. It does. It does. And and most
0:57
definitely it does. when I see a player
1:00
that played the position that I played
1:02
and either make a big play or make a
1:04
negative play and um I actually seen
1:07
that muff punt um from the return on the
1:09
punt return. Um and my heart goes out to
1:12
that guy, you know, as a player like
1:14
that when you make those type of
1:15
mistakes when you go to the sideline all
1:18
you can pray, all you can ice God do is
1:20
please do not let them score a touchdown
1:22
right now. But unfortunately they went
1:25
and scored and I know that was like the
1:27
the type of feeling that feel that feels
1:29
like.
1:31
One of the great plays in Super Bowl
1:33
history, one of the great moments is you
1:34
return to the opening kickoff of the '06
1:36
Super Bowl for a for a touchdown. And
1:39
even though it happens in a loss, it is
1:41
so mesmerizing because you were so
1:44
dominant that season and the entire twoe
1:46
leadup was can't let Devin Hester beat
1:49
you. Can't let Devin Hester beat you.
1:50
and the Colts kept saying it and yet you
1:53
did it and you open up the game doing it
1:55
and there's so much there's so much into
1:58
opening up the Super Bowl. Was that kick
2:02
in your mind different when you fielded
2:05
it what you saw or did it feel like all
2:07
the other kicks you'd ever fielded?
2:10
it it whenever you have players and
2:14
categories where they're just,
2:17
you know, they just that that have that
2:19
factor, big games like that, you that
2:23
player dream about. Um, and so
2:29
in my my mind, I knew if I got my hands
2:32
on the ball, it wasn't nobody that was
2:33
going to tackle me. And and I was just
2:36
praying that I got an opportunity to get
2:38
my hands on the ball. And when it did
2:39
happen, when I saw the ball in the air,
2:41
I just knew right then that I was going
2:43
to be the first one to touch this ball
2:44
and now it's going to make a big
2:45
statement.
2:47
Were there Did you notice flash bulbs?
2:50
Cuz this is a traditional thing that the
2:52
opening kickoff of the Super Bowl always
2:54
the entire stadium is all flash bulbs.
2:57
Did you notice that when you were
2:58
fielding that kick?
2:59
I think I was just locked in on that
3:01
ball. I couldn't see nothing but that
3:02
ball. And um
3:05
uh that was pretty much it, man. and I
3:07
was so glued in and tied into that ball
3:09
and made sure I filled it. Um, and the
3:12
rest was history.
3:14
I want to tell you personally, I'm so
3:15
happy you got into the Hall of Fame
3:17
because I've always felt like whatever
3:19
position you play in the NFL, if you
3:21
were the best at it, you belong in that
3:23
that involves kickers, punters, kick
3:26
returners, kick coverage, any if you
3:29
were the single best ever, I think you
3:32
belong in the Hall of Fame. when you
3:33
finally got in, I felt like it was
3:35
really validation for great kick
3:37
returners. And I'm friends with Dante
3:38
Hall, and I always felt like, you know,
3:41
that's not just a small part of the
3:43
game, that's a massive part of a game.
3:46
Have you heard from other special team
3:48
players that have played throughout the
3:50
years that have shared that sentiment
3:52
like, "Man, we're happy that you got in,
3:53
that you broke in as a kick returner."
3:56
Most definitely. I know uh Josh Josh
3:58
Josh Crib reached out u the moment he
4:00
heard about it like you say Hall reached
4:03
out and he was he was so honored about
4:05
it u and also Brian Mitchell I think
4:07
those are three guys right now that's
4:09
like knocking at the gate right now
4:11
they're getting in um and like you say I
4:14
honestly agree with you when you you
4:16
talked about um if you're the best at
4:19
your position no matter what position it
4:21
is in the game of football you deserve
4:24
to be in the Hall of Fame And I
4:28
testimony to that that it is I feel and
4:31
I talked to a lot of players that's in
4:32
the Hall of Fame that have the same
4:34
opinion. If you're the best at whatever
4:36
you do when it comes to the national
4:37
NFL, you deserve to be in the Hall.
4:40
It's one of the reasons I really feel
4:42
like Steve Tasker belongs on the Hall of
4:44
Fame. He's been a finalist for a lot of
4:45
years. Has not been able to break
4:47
through, but he was the best kick
4:48
coverage guy I think in NFL history. Do
4:51
you think that Tasker belongs in Canton?
4:53
I also you you're absolutely right. Like
4:55
you say, you you can sit back and you
4:58
can have a lot of debates about certain
5:01
positions and who's the best, but when
5:04
it comes to a guy that kind of stands
5:06
alone,
5:07
it's no question whether or not he
5:09
should have been in the Hall of Fame.
5:11
And I think Tash is one of the the best
5:13
special team players overall, special
5:15
team player, and deserve a spot in the
5:17
hall.
5:18
You your first two seasons were perhaps
5:21
the two greatest seasons by a special
5:23
teams player ever. You combined for 11
5:25
touchdowns in those first two years,
5:28
both kick returns and punt returns for
5:30
touchdowns.
5:31
And then the rest of your career, you
5:33
played a nice long career, eight of
5:34
them. And I won't say only eight because
5:36
eight touchdowns over the course of a
5:39
career special teams wise is an amazing
5:40
total, but that happened after your
5:42
first two years. Did it become harder
5:44
because of coverages? Does it become
5:46
harder for special teams guys simply
5:48
because each year your pure speed might
5:51
tick down a little bit less? How does it
5:54
how does the challenge evolve after the
5:56
early part of your career?
5:58
Well, to be honest, the first two years,
6:03
um,
6:05
teams didn't didn't believe in me. They
6:07
didn't think I was, you know, that that
6:10
special. Um, to every time I get an
6:13
opportunity to get my hands on the ball,
6:14
that something special is going to
6:15
happen. Uh, first year, you know, you
6:18
kind of like, okay, all right, it was a
6:20
lucky season for him. the following year
6:23
you go back and do the same thing but
6:24
even better. Now teams are like okay
6:27
this kid is very special. And then the
6:29
next couple years that's when a lot of
6:32
teams start kicking it out of bounds,
6:34
punting the ball out of it was a
6:36
mandatory rule where they the certain
6:38
like 80% of the teams had to punt the
6:41
ball out of bounds
6:43
on kickoff. They had to squib it or kick
6:47
try to kick it in the back of the end
6:48
zone. And so that eliminated the touches
6:51
I had. It was one year where it was a
6:53
couple years where I couldn't even get
6:54
in the in in the Pro Bowl voting because
6:56
I didn't have enough returns.
6:59
So it was it was it it it it hurt me
7:02
because after the first two years teams
7:04
was just like we're not kicking it to
7:05
them and we don't care how good our
7:08
special team unit is. We're just going
7:09
to kick it out of bound and take where
7:11
the ball go at and then on kickoff we're
7:13
just going to kick it in the back kick
7:14
it out the end zone.
7:16
So, it's almost the ego that gets in the
7:19
way of the special teams coordinators
7:20
that say, "We're not going to let that
7:21
guy beat me. I'm not going to let that
7:23
guy do it. Just kick it out of the
7:24
endzone so they never even get a
7:25
chance."
7:26
Right. And it was situation where I I
7:28
heard that punish was telling me before
7:30
the game that if I didn't kick it out of
7:32
bounds, they was going to find a new
7:34
punter. So, it was like, we don't I want
7:37
my job. So, I'm I'm going to point this
7:39
ball out of bounds.
7:41
It's got to be so frustrating. kind of
7:43
like a cornerback where they never throw
7:45
to that side of the field. It's got to
7:47
feel like, man, what am I doing out
7:48
here? They're not even kicking me the
7:50
ball.
7:50
Yeah, exactly. And that's exactly how it
7:52
felt, man. It was so frustrating that
7:54
they even made commercials of it in
7:57
Chicago. They made commercials of uh
8:00
punters kicking the ball out of bounds
8:01
and things like that. So, I mean, the
8:03
crowd would just go crazy just booing
8:05
them from the first minute. First punt,
8:08
first punt go straight out of bounds.
8:09
the whole stadium would just be just be
8:11
boring all day. It was it was tough like
8:14
after my first two season. A lot of
8:16
people don't realize that. They say that
8:17
you know the first two season was
8:19
amazing and then you know he had a drop
8:21
of where you didn't see no return. But
8:23
imagine if if they kicked me like they
8:26
did my first two years. Where would my
8:27
stats be now?
8:30
That's so interesting. You had 11
8:32
touchdowns in the first two years. If
8:35
they kept kicking you at the same rate,
8:37
do you think you would have just kept
8:38
duplicating those types of numbers?
8:40
Most definitely. Most definitely. For
8:43
sure. I I would easily had over
8:46
close to 40 returns.
8:50
I got to tell you, as amazing as that
8:53
is, your college team at Miami was just
8:57
ridiculous. And I just want to go over
8:59
some of the some of the talent of this
9:00
team cuz I love those early 2000s Kane's
9:03
teams on your 03 team. That was your
9:05
first year in Coral Gables. Frank Gore,
9:10
Antrol,
9:11
Shawn Taylor, DJ Williams, Sonoris Moss,
9:15
Kellen Winslow,
9:17
all were on this team and they all made
9:19
the NFL. And that's not even all of the
9:23
NFL players that you played with. I
9:25
mean, you're talking about an NFL Pro
9:27
Bowl team. Do you think that Miami team
9:30
you were on had more talent than some of
9:33
the NFL teams you were on?
9:36
Most definitely. If we would have kept
9:38
that same team,
9:40
I think right now we
9:43
in our prime, we would have been a top
9:46
team to beat. You got to think about it.
9:48
We You mentioned guys that you didn't
9:50
mention guys like what about Vince
9:51
Workfor? I was going to say play on that
9:54
03 team. Yes, he was on that team.
9:57
What about Jonathan Vilma?
9:59
Vilma.
10:00
What about DJ William?
10:01
DJ William.
10:03
Brandon Merryweather.
10:04
Right. The these are standout NFL
10:07
players. Some of them went to Pro Bowls
10:09
every single year. And that was just on
10:10
your defense.
10:11
Correct. You know what I mean? So yeah,
10:14
it was it was crazy. Greg Olsen.
10:18
I mean, so like this is what is amazing
10:20
about those early 2000s Canades teams.
10:23
You come from college and you have an
10:26
NFL Pro Bowl team. You go to the NFL,
10:29
you don't have that many Pro Bowlers on
10:31
an NFL roster. Like if you had four NFL
10:34
Pro Bowlers on a roster, you had a
10:36
really good season in the NFL. When you
10:39
played a in Miami, you might have had
10:42
eight or nine NFL Pro Bowlers on a
10:45
college team.
10:47
My rookie year when I played in the Pro
10:49
Bowl, it was like eight of us.
10:53
It was like eight. It was like eight of
10:55
us. My second year, it was like like
10:58
another eight or 10 of us. Like every
10:59
year I went to the Pro Bowl, we had at
11:01
least a guaranteed eight players from
11:04
the University of M at the Pro Bowl
11:07
every year.
11:08
It was an alumni game. The Pro Bowl.
11:11
Even Even the coach, the receiver coach
11:14
was a coach from the University of
11:16
Miami. coaster.
11:18
So, it it it wasn't a joke, man.
11:22
And remember how that old Orange Bowl
11:25
creaked
11:26
and it was old, but it was loud and it
11:29
was awesome. I loved going to games with
11:31
the Orange Bowl. You must have loved
11:32
playing there.
11:33
I I that that is a when you think about
11:36
the Gladiators, that's a stadium that
11:38
would would be like one of the biggest
11:41
most popular coliseums. Like it's no
11:44
other stadium. Like when you think about
11:46
all the gladiator, all the legends that
11:48
played on that field,
11:51
a lot of battles were fought in that
11:52
stadium, man. A lot of legends was
11:55
played on that stadium.
11:56
Got that right. And Super Bowls were
11:58
played on that stadium and great college
12:00
games and great Orange Bowls. Yeah,
12:02
you're absolutely right.
12:03
Must have been heartbreaking to watch
12:05
your Canes lose in the national
12:06
championship game. How did it feel?
12:08
It was most definitely. I was right
12:09
there on the sideline when it happened.
12:11
Um, it was tough. You know, like you
12:13
say, when you mentioned special teams,
12:15
we had a block punt,
12:18
scoop and score for a touchdown. You
12:19
know, like
12:21
special teams when we talk about this
12:23
situation is like a real key factor and
12:25
could determine the game and to sit
12:29
there and watch that man come down to
12:30
the wire like that, man, is it, like I
12:32
said, give I tip my hats off to those
12:35
guys. Indiana, they played a great game.
12:36
They have a great team, you know. Don't
12:39
take no no disrespect to those guys.
12:40
those guys played a hell of a game. Um,
12:43
but when a game is close like that, you
12:45
always feel like you had the opportunity
12:46
to win it. And so, unfortunately, I
12:49
think we uh we're in the process of
12:51
rebuilding right now. Uh, we seeing what
12:54
we're capable of having right now. And I
12:56
do honestly feel like Mario Crystal is
12:58
doing special right now for the
13:00
University of Miami.
13:01
He's got a lot of that good energy,
13:04
positivity, alumni factor back. really
13:07
cool to see you guys the sidelines and
13:09
uh that the U was back in in the
13:12
national spotlight. Tell me about
13:13
playing with Jay Cutler. He seemed like
13:15
an odd duck. What was he like as
13:17
quarterback in that huddle?
13:19
Uh Jay, you know, you it's it's the
13:22
typical type of Jay, you know what I
13:23
mean? He's he's he's real laidback, you
13:26
know. Um almost similar to my wife, you
13:29
know, that that have, you know, almost a
13:31
nonchalant mentality, you know, don't
13:33
let nothing bother them. just easy
13:35
going, don't don't stress over anything.
13:37
And that's just the type of guy he was,
13:39
you know? He was just just smooth Jay,
13:42
you know? He didn't he didn't say a lot,
13:44
you know what I mean? He kind of kept to
13:46
himself and he that's just how he was.
13:50
Usually you think about like these fiery
13:53
quarterbacks yelling at people in the
13:55
huddle. That was not Jay Cutler. No, I
13:58
wouldn't I would every now and then he
14:00
would he would he would he would get a
14:02
little rattled uh where he would he
14:04
would have a spur moment, but other than
14:06
he he just wasn't that type of guy um to
14:10
be uh fiery.
14:12
You are working on it on behalf of Pork
14:14
Rinds and Southern Batch and it's such a
14:18
great Pork Rind company, but also the
14:20
Grid Iron Greats and supporting those in
14:23
need that have played the game. We've
14:25
spoken to a lot of former players here
14:27
on the show that have been supportive of
14:29
this and supportive of others and those
14:30
that have really benefited from this
14:32
type of partnership. So, that's going to
14:34
feel special to be able to do that and
14:36
work with a group that really supports
14:39
former NFL players.
14:41
Correct. You know, this is I feel like
14:42
this is a great cause. I got an
14:43
opportunity um for those guys that
14:46
reached out to me and and asked me to
14:48
come on the platform and kind of pump
14:50
them up and get them out there. you
14:52
know, the cause that they're doing is is
14:53
is is great. You know, with the
14:56
situation that a lot of older NFL guys,
14:59
you know, are dealing with right now in
15:01
society, you know, when it comes to
15:03
health and insurance, you know, um a lot
15:06
of people don't know that, but after 5
15:08
years of retired from the league, um
15:10
your insurance get cut off. And you
15:12
know, unfortunately, a lot of um you
15:14
know, insurance is crazy nowadays, you
15:16
know, if you don't have a job, you know,
15:17
and so a lot of these guys are in need
15:19
of help, you know, with u the situation
15:22
they health problems. I feel like every
15:24
NFL player, if you play more than 5
15:26
years in the league, you going to have
15:28
some type of problems later on in life.
15:30
And so, this is a great cause to give
15:32
back to the community, to the guys
15:34
unfortunately that don't have the funds
15:36
or just need the help for the for the
15:38
cause.
15:39
Yeah, it's really important. And you
15:41
know, I grew up watching this game and
15:43
loving the athletes that played in the
15:45
80s and 90s before it got massive and
15:49
then even before that in the 70s and
15:51
stuff. Guys did not make a lot of money.
15:53
So the insurance is a huge part of how
15:55
they're going to be able to keep their
15:56
hospital bills going, etc. And the fact
15:59
that you guys and this partnership helps
16:02
those players, I just think is so
16:03
important. Pork Grind Appreciation Day
16:06
is coming up. Go to porkrinds.com
16:08
for more information. It's the Grid Iron
16:10
Great Assistance Fund. Mike Ditka has
16:13
been at the helm of this for a while. He
16:15
cares about those players. I love that.
16:16
I love that you guys all come together
16:18
for each other. Again, pork rides.com
16:21
and pork rides appreciation day teaming
16:23
up to help out the Grid Iron Great
16:25
Assistance Fund. Man, Devin, it was a
16:28
thrill when I got uh the email that you
16:30
were going to join me. Um I've got
16:32
incredible respect for what you've
16:34
accomplished. I'm so happy you're in the
16:35
Pro Football Hall of Fame and it's
16:37
really cool that you're helping out the
16:38
Grid Iron Great. So, thanks so much for
16:40
the time today. I really appreciate it.
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