Devin Hester
BEARSRECEIVER/KICK RETURNER
On kicking toDevin Hester
I don't think I'dtake a chance on it. During pregame I'll ask the opponent's punter, "What'syour game plan?" The Eagles' punter said, "We're not kicking it toyou." Players come up to me after a ball gets kicked out-of-bounds and say,"I'm glad ... because I did not feel like covering you."
On his mentor
As a kid I lovedone player: Deion Sanders. The camera was always on him, and that's the type ofplayer I saw myself as. When I was at Miami he heard how I felt and left avoice message: "This is Prime. I want to be in your life. Let me know."Now, not a day goes by without a text from him. He knows the ins and outs, andwe talk about a lot outside of football: how to carry yourself, girls,money—all that.
His first TD
I was 11, playinglinebacker in Pop Warner [near West Palm Beach, Fla.] and I got a pick on thefirst play of the game. I wanted to do Deion's thing. My first time playingorganized football, and I was high-stepping it!
Life inChicago
I'm known. When Igo to eat, the waitress will say, "The guy across the room paid for yourmeal. You're taken care of." On the party scene, it's, "Devin, youdon't have to wait in line. Come to the door." It's an honor.
On ex-fiancéeTamara James of the WNBA's Washington Mystics
We've been brokenup for nearly two years. We were so competitive, we would fight over cardgames, video games, basketball, anything. I do whatever it takes to win, andshe would get mad at me for a whole day. Of course, that's not why we brokeup.
His nicknames
In high school itwas Sugar Foot because my feet were sweet. At Miami, I was Hurricane Hester,then Anytime, like Deion's Prime Time. In Chicago, I'm the Windy CityFlyer.
PHOTO
PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT SEALE