Top 30 NFL players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame

9. DB/KR/WR Devin Hester

When you do something better than anyone else in the history of professional football, there’s probably no real good explanation as to why a player wasn’t a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer.

In the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears opted for University of Miami “defensive back” Devin Hester. His real forte was on special teams and he wasted little time showing everyone who watched just how special he was. In each of his first two seasons, he earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors.

As a rookie, he set a new NFL mark with five combined kick returns for scores. That doesn’t include his 92-yard return for a TD on the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI. It also doesn’t include (because it’s not a kick return) a 108-yard touchdown return of a missed field goal by the Giants’ Jay Feely that season.

A year later, he rewrote the NFL record book again with six combined kick returns for touchdowns. All told, Hester owns league career records for most punt returns for scores (14) and combined kick returns (19). He was a Pro Bowler and All-Pro three times in his first five NFL seasons with Chicago and also earned a Pro Bowl invite with the Falcons in 2014. For good measure, he also racked up 3,427 yards rushing and receiving and scored 17 touchdowns.

Just for kicks, here’s one other note. Hester was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Teams of both the 2000s and 2010s (via the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee).