Devin Hester named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Thursday night was a lot of fun for fans of the Atlanta Falcons, as the team dismantled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a 42-point margin in front of a national television audience. At the center of the pleasure was kick returner (and wide receiver) Devin Hester, and for his performance in that game, the explosive Hester has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

As noted by ESPN’s Vaughn McClure above, Hester has earned this honor a stunning 14 times throughout his career, and that is the most of any NFL return man in history. Because the Bucs could not generate any offense, Hester was limited to just one kickoff return for 29 yards, but he famously took a punt return for a 62-yard touchdown, and if not for penalties in the kicking game, his numbers would have been off the charts.

Hester has proved to be an asset in the passing game thus far this season, as evidenced by his 7 catches for 126 yards across three games, but his biggest value comes in the return game, where he is still an elite player even at an advanced age by NFL standards. Congratulations to Devin Hester on this award, and hopefully, he will be able to tack on another honor or two to his all-time leading total during the 2014 season.