Devin Hester has his plan in place for the Super Bowl.
"I want to stay low-key," he said. "I don't want to be the guy people talk too much about. I want to stay quiet and sneak up at the end of the game. That's the way I like to do it."
Sounds like a good plan, but there's only one little problem with it:
There is no way, no how, Hester is sneaking up on anybody anymore.
Not this Sunday, not next season, not ever.
Not after what Hester has done in his rookie season.
What he has done is merely rewrite the NFL record book with six returns for touchdowns (three on kickoffs, two on punts and one on a missed field goal); tie the NFL record for the longest return for a touchdown; tie another league record with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in one game; make the Pro Bowl; and shame all those who criticized the Bears last April for spending a second-round pick on a return specialist.
"Devin Hester is a weapon, he is a nuclear weapon," Colts head coach Tony Dungy said. "So you are never quite comfortable when your enemy has a nuclear weapon. ... He can score from anywhere on the field at any time, and that is not a good feeling."
In the 40-year history of the Super Bowl, only one kick returner has been named MVP, that being Green Bay's Desmond Howard in Super Bowl XXXI.
