Sunday, September 3, 2023

Hester or Tasker ... Which? Neither? Both?

by Jeffrey J. Miller  
    
    Let me start by saying I am a small-hall guy. In my estimation, enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is an honor that should be reserved for the best of the very best players the game has ever known. In looking over the complete roster of HOF enshrinees, I see quite a few questionable names (out of respect, I won’t mention any here). Though I am sure my list of undeserving HOFers would differ greatly from, say, Deion Sanders’, I must admit I agree with him that the Hall is bloated with guys who in retrospect might not be enshrined today.  But the fact that the HOF seems to have widened the door in recent years, allowing some suspect candidates to enter leaves room for consideration of a few other players who have had that same door slammed on them for whatever reason. I wish to talk about one who should be a slam-dunk, and another who I feel has gotten a raw deal for lo these many years.   
    I have been reading many comments lately about the Hall-of-Fame worthiness of Devin Hester, probably the greatest return man in NFL history. Hester’s numbers are simply astounding.  He holds the all-time record for combined returns for touchdowns (punt, kickoff and missed field goals) with 20, and most punt return touchdowns with 14.  He also once had six returns for touchdowns in a single season (2004), which tied the previous record. When his Chicago Bears faced the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI, Hester returned the game’s opening kickoff, the first time that feat had ever been accomplished in a Super Bowl. Clearly, if there was ever a return man who deserves enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame, it is Hester.

    The primary issue keeping Hester out of the Hall seems to be the fact that he was not a full-time positional player. Being primarily a return man (though he did have a handful of nice seasons as a WR), detractors believe he did not wield the same impact game-in and game-out as, say, a quarterback, cornerback or full-time wide receiver might. This writer says fishpaste!  I would argue that the impact of a kick being returned for a score, or even the fear instilled that something like that was always a possibility, was undeniable. It forces punters and kickoff men to angle their kicks away from a guy like Hester, or simply punt the ball out-of-bounds to prevent a return from erven happening.   
    
    Put the man in, I say! There have been plenty of outstanding return men over the past 50 years (Billy Johnson, Rick Upchurch and Donte Hall come to mind), but none like Hester. And that brings me to the other guy in a similar, though different, situation. That man is Steve Tasker, the long-time special teams ace of the Buffalo Bills.  Tasker, like, Hester, was arguably the best at his position in league history. And also like Hester, detractors insist that a special teamer participates in a low percentage of scrimmage plays on the field, so his level of impact in comparison to a regular offensive or defensive player is therefore very small.    
    A few years back, I had the opportunity to speak with the man who coached Tasker for several years with the Bills, Marv Levy, himself a Hall-of-Famer. Admittedly, Levy is biased regarding the kicking game. He was a pioneer of the discipline, having been the second-ever full-time special teams coach in the league upon joining the Philadelphia Eagles’ staff in 1969 (Dick Vermeil was the first). One year later, Levy was hired away from the Eagles by George Allen, head man with the Washington Redskins.      

    Levy had calculated that about twenty percent of all plays in a game were special teams plays. He noted that he and Coach Allan that the kicking game impacted the outcome of a game more heavily than the twenty-percent stat might imply.  Levy listed three ways a special teams play can have an impact well beyond that one individual play:
            
    1.  There is a change of possession (either punt or kickoff).
    2.  There is a considerable change in field position involved.
    3.  There is a specific "yes" or "no" involved as to whether points will be scored on that play (field goal, PAT, two-point conversion).

    Not to mention the change in momentum resulting from a blocked field goal or punt, a successful onside kick, a bad snap, or a kick returned for a score.          

    So, what is the prevailing sentiment? Do kick returners and special teamers belong in the Hall of Hame?  One or the other? It seems the prevailing sentiment would, if it came down to a choice between the two, favor Hester over Tasker. But if so, why? 

    There are few who believe a better kick returner than Hester has ever played the game.  There is also little doubt that a better special teamer than Tasker has ever played. And while a kick returned for a score is unquestionably more exciting than a gunner slamming into a returner at the very moment the ball reaches his hands, being the best at your position should mean something. The HOF voters finally figured that out when they finally started putting tight ends in the Hall back in 1988 (Mike Ditka). Kickers too were once denied enshrinement (for the very same reasons Hester and Tasker have been) until Jan Stenerud became the first pure kicker inducted in 1991. Punters too experienced sneers until Ray Guy got was honored in 2014. 

    Hester’s stats and accomplishments are eye-popping indeed, but so are Tasker’s:  Five first-team All-Pro selections (compared to Hester’s three), seven Pro Bowls (compared to Hester’s four), being the only special teamer ever to be named MVP of a Pro Bowl game, 204 special teams tackles, seven blocked punts in regular season plus another in Super Bowl XXVII, six fumble recoveries. In 2000, a committee at the Pro Football Hall of Fame selected him one of the 26 “Best of the Best ALL-TIME Players in the History of the Game." In an admittedly unscientific poll conducted by the NFL Network in 2008, Tasker was ranked ninth among players who are Hall-of-Fame worthy not yet enshrined.    
    I hereby open the floor to debate. 

10 comments:

  1. From Brian wolf ...

    I have no problem with Hester or Tasker making the HOF, though I believe players who were stars on special teams should at least be starters on offense or defense to make the HOF.

    Hester started some on offense but was nothing special, while Tasker didnt get the chance to start because his head coach wanted him for special teams. Jim Kelly swears by him ...

    Hester is the best returner ever but others at different times throughout NFL history were also considered the best ever. If those players like Buddy Young, Al Carmichael, Abe Woodson, Timmy Brown, Billy Johnson, etc are subjectively left out, why should Hester possibly be the only one subjectively left in?

    Will his election end it for everyone else, including Brian Mitchell, Rick Upchurch, Eric Metcalf and Corradelle Patterson?
    Forget returners, how about Tasker, Bill Bates, Hank Bauer, Matthew Slater, others?

    Albert Lewis, Lemar Parrish and Abe Woodson starred on special teams as well as defense. Should Hester get voted in before these guys? I can understand Jack Christiansen being considered the best from an earlier era, who has already made the HOF along with Gayle Sayers as well.

    Hester is deserving and will be voted in soon. For the sake of Tasker and all the other great special teams stars, please vote some of them in as well. Hopefully, Hester's election doesnt slam the door shut ...

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  2. My thinking is if you were fielding an all time team, you would need special teams represented. So yes, Hester and Tasker should be strongly considered. My argument against Hester is why isn’t Billy “White Shoes” Johnson considered as a returner? He was on the 1970s AND 1980s Decade teams. He should go into the Hall first.

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    1. > if you were fielding an all time team, you would need special teams represented.

      A team would, but how a person answers that likely gives some perspective into their HOF candidacy views.
      For instance, someone might add Devin Hester for their team, I would instead split returns between players like Deion, Charles Woodson, etc.

      Same with Tasker, it would instead be someone like Albert Lewis while acknowledging that players like Ed Reed were highly competent on ST before being pulled.

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  3. Deion is right. The Hall has been diluted unfortunately. Case in point: Floyd Little. He’s a Hall of Famer? Really? Only named All Pro once in his career. So many more that are deserving.

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    1. Completely agree on Little. Charlie Sanders is another guy who doesn't belong. His numbers aren't as good as Riley Odoms or Bob Tucker yet neither one them is getting in. Truely puzzled about some of the choices

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  4. If I was running the Hall of Fame meetings evaluating candidates, I’d kick off the meeting with a PowerPoint slide showing players with most All Pros/ All Decade teams not in the Hall. I would ask- “why aren’t these players in? Do they have any advocates?”Examples: Maxie Baughan, Jimmy Patton, etc.

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  5. as Corso always says, "not so fast, my friend...."
    Hester was amazing, but I presume your primary metric was output x longevity.....one could argue that the "greatest' returner of all-time was really Gayle Sayers.....we all know a. short career b. "why" short career, ergo "limited sample but:
    Sayers 2 punt return tds Hester 14 (a truly amazing number!)
    Sayers 14.5 yppr Hester 11.7
    Sayers 6 ko tds Hester 5
    Sayers 30.6 ypr Hester 24,6
    just sayin'

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  6. Some valid points my friend. My awareness of pro football goes back to the late 60s. I believe Gale Sayers to be one of the top 3 running backs I have ever seen. But that is exactly what he was--a running back who just happened to return kicks. There is a reason we don't see starting RBs as kick returners anymore. Hester, on the other hand, was always considered a return man first and foremost despite being a capable WR. So the question of who is the best at his position puts Hester at one position and Sayers at another. I also agree that Upchurch, Johnson and a few others were really great, but none can boast the entire body of work Hester can.

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  7. BW ...

    As a great punt returner, Hester scored and put up exclamation points for the defense.
    The defense would be fired up to play again and that Bears' unit could swarm.

    Eric Metcalf was a great punt return specialist as well and had good receiving numbers, while starting his career as a running back. Hopefully he wont be forgotten as a deserving candidate.

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  8. I have no problem with putting special team players in the HOF.
    My biggest problem with the entire HOF voting thing is, why do they limit the number of players????
    When a player is eligible to be put in, put him in!
    No more of this 10-15 years waiting to be inducted!
    You become eligible, you get voted on, you're either in or not!
    If you have 20 guys get voted in ....... GREAT!!!!
    No more of this being on a ballot for decades!
    They aren't going to get any better while you drag your feet on if they are good enough or not.
    And there are some voters that need to be replaced for sure.
    They either don't know the older players except by name, or if they were a writer and got dissed for an interview or something, they hold it against that person.
    Have the voter pool change every few years to get fresh perspectives and fewer egos on the panel!
    The entire HOF induction process needs to be overhauled!

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