Bears Legend Devin Hester Pays Tribute To His Mom In Emotional Hall of Fame Speech

Devin Hester was always a class act. Definitely the best return man I’ve seen in my lifetime. Thanks to 14 punt returns and five kickoffs run back for touchdowns in his regular-season career — plus his housing of the opening kick in Super Bowl XLI — the longtime Chicago Bears star was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday in the class of 2024.

For all he accomplished on the field to break new ground as the first Hall of Fame returner, Hester made sure to recognize his roots. Not only did his mother, Juanita Brown, join him on stage as his bust in Canton, Ohio, was unveiled, but Hester dedicated a good chunk of his speech directly to her.

He said:

“She sacrificed everything to take care of us, even if it meant bouncing a check from time to time. She never missed a sporting event, even if sometimes she missed the first quarter.

Mom, all the hard praying and fasting you did was well worth it. Because I can honestly say, out of 350 million mothers who have a son that played professional football, your son is a Hall of Famer.”

That’s equal parts emotionally moving and totally bada**. At the top of the clip, Hester also reveals that his mom was pregnant with him while she was graduating high school, and already raising his older brother. But yeah, what a stat to crystallize just how much of a long shot it is for anyone to emerge as a Pro Football Hall of Famer no matter what their childhood or background looked like.

Although I don’t know if 350 million is the exact real number, who am I to doubt Devin Hester? He wouldn’t have that data in his holster during an enshrinement speech if it didn’t check out.

Hester’s prime was mostly before the NFL made the call to move kickoffs up from the 3o-yard line to the 35-yard line. Now I don’t even know which way is up on kickoffs due to these new rules. Suffice it to say, he was a singular talent and too dynamic to deny in Canton, despite his rather minimal impact on offense by comparison as a receiver.

If he played in today’s NFL, I could see Hester in a Cordarrelle Patterson type of role. Too bad the Bears haven’t had any ray of hope at the quarterback position in decades until now with Caleb Williams. Chicago’s stout defense led by linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs — I swear this happened during the current century — combined with the X-factor of Hester’s returning ability, helped the Bears advance to the aforementioned Super Bowl XLI. The opening kick TD by Hester was electrifying. Problem was, Chicago’s QB was Rex Grossman, and Peyton Manning was on the other side. The result was a 29-17 Colts win. Shocking, I know.

But whatever. Today’s about Devin Hester and recognizing that he was HIM before “he is HIM” was a thing.