Chicago Bears Are Making a Mistake with Devin Hester

Team Insists on Making Record-setting Return Man a Wide Receiver

The Chicago Bears turned up a gem when they selected defensive back Devin Hester from the University of Miami in the second round of the 2006 draft. They were criticized in many circles for wasting such a high draft choice on a return specialist when the team needed help in other areas. Then Hester stepped onto the field and turned the league on its ear. As a rookie, Hester set an NFL record for kicks returned for touchdowns with five on his way to a Pro Bowl selection. The next year, Hester was just as amazing, breaking his own league record with six returns for touchdowns.

Then, inexplicably, the Bears decided to convert him to a wide receiver. Since that time, Hester has shown flashes of brilliance, but mostly mediocrity. He also has not returned a punt or kickoff for a touchdown since then.

What were the Bears coaches thinking? They had someone who in two seasons established himself as the best player of all time at returning kicks. In addition to his 11 regular season scores, Hester also added a then-record-tying 108-yard scoring return on a missed field goal and became the first man in NFL history to return the opening kick of the Super Bowl back for a touchdown. Even if Hester never returns another kick for a touchdown, his two-year dominance firmly plant him among the greatest returners the sport has ever seen. It is without a doubt the most dazzling two-year display in the league's nearly 90 years of play.

In fact, with two more return touchdowns, Hester will tie Brian Mitchell, the NFL's all-time leader, who needed 13 seasons to accomplish the feat.

It makes sense that the Bears were lured to make the switch to get the ball into Hester's hands more often. But it also reeks of greed, when they should have been happy with what they had, the league's best punt and kick returner. And now after a full season as a receiver, with no return touchdowns, it looks like the Bears are inching closer to ruining what could have been one of the most spectacular careers in history.