Twenty three has a sacred sort of power in Chicago. There is unabashed love for his Royal Airness, but the love is twinged with a healthy dose of terror. It’s kind of the same way that you’re supposed to love God. Love unequivocally. Fear constantly. No one, except for the chumps and the fools, wears twenty three on a court or field in Chicago.
Chicagoans love MJ the same way you love God, with a healthy dose of fear.
So when Devin Hester galloped out on onto the field, sporting that Almighty number on his back, Chicago fans were naturally apprehensive. We knew he was good, coming out of Miami, and that he returned kicks like no one’s business. With our vaunted defense and historically anemic offense, a strong special teams was not so much a luxury as it was a necessity. But still. No one should wear twenty three.
Then he started to run. The first return that really stood out was the one against Arizona. Our offense had been particularly pungent all game; thankfully, there are two side of the ball in football. Brian Urlacher had one of the best games of his career, flying all over the field, creating general chaos. The Bears had crawled back, down just a score, despite not scoring an offensive touchdown. Our defense had locked the Cardinals down yet again, and they were forced to punt to the young rookie, Devin Hester. One cut, and he was gone.
The return against New York was more interesting. The Giants were attempting a long field goal, into adverse conditions. Devin Hester, the heads up player that he was, headed back into the endzone, just in case. The kick hung in the air, Devin caught it, took a step, hesitated, and took off. The Giants were woefully out of position. They didn’t stand a chance.
On and on they came, one after another, until all of a sudden, the most exciting part of watching a Bears game was a defensive stand, deep in opposition territory. We booed opponents too fearful to kick to him, even though it gave us great field position. The running joke was that a Devin Hester kick return had higher odds of scoring than a series from Sexy Rexy and the Bears offense. It felt like we accidentally fell into the Super Bowl that year, against Peyton Manning and the Colts. The Colts kicked off, light bulbs flashing, and there he was, number twenty three, weaving in and out of defenders, giving us hope that maybe, just maybe, we could hang with Peyton Manning and the Colts.
Devin Hester gave Chicago fans hope, no matter who the opponent.
We got crushed that game. It wasn’t even close. But I will never, ever, forget that Devin Hester kick return.
Devin Hester signed with the Atlanta Falcons last week. It was sort of inevitable. Devin has become a much worse kick returner over the years as teams figured him out, and he started taking aggravating aggressive lines, resulting in huge losses of field position. However, losing Devin Hester, the kick returner, is in my mind, not as important as losing Devin Hester, the individual. My favorite Devin Hester moment isn’t on the field. It was on the podium.
Devin had just scored his 14th kick return, an NFL record. Not once did he mention himself. “I hate sitting here taking all the glory,” he said. “I wish them other 10 guys were up here and you were asking them questions … all the glory goes to them.” His voice cracked as he said it. The works trickled out of his mouth as he fought back tears - People said I wasn’t smart enough. Well, I proved you wrong.
People thought he wasn’t smart enough because Devin Hester was a black kid from a predominantly black town in Florida. They drooled over his speed and athleticism while simultaneously underestimating him because he was a minority. They forgot that intelligence isn’t just about how well you can do in school. Devin Hester called these people out, and put their injustices up to the screen for everyone to see.
Every Bears fan is rooting for Devin Hester, even though he’ll be wearing black and red in Atlanta. And I really hope that when Devin gets to Atlanta, and they ask him what number he wants, he’ll keep on wearing twenty three. 
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