19 years ago, right about now, Devin Hester made one of the most ridiculous plays we’ve ever seen from a Chicago Bear, running the opening kickoff of Super Bowl LXI back for a touchdown.
For the 14 seconds, there wasn’t a Bears fan in the entire country who wasn’t jumping for joy.
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Then after that, the game skipped straight to Prince’s halftime show and just…ended. Out of nowhere. Not sure what happened. The final score of the game says the Indianaopolis Colts won 29-17, but at this point, AI can make you believe anything.
Well, anyway, at the time, I’d say that was definitely one of the most legendary moments in Super Bowl history—and a defining play of the Hall-of-Fame return man’s career. And, to this point, it’s the last memorable play the Bears have had in the big game.
For the first time since 2010, the last time the Bears won a playoff game, they gave us hope that they might actually create some new Super Bowl memories. (Maybe it wasn’t coincidence that Hester made his way back to visit the Bears in training camp this year. Maybe he should do that every year from now on.)
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Sadly, it didn’t work out that way, as the Bears fell to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round. And of course, there’s no guarantee they’ll be that close again.
At least, I know that’s what we’re supposed to tell ourselves. Because I don’t believe that in the slightest.
As crazy as it sounds, the Bears feel even more properly aligned for sustained success than they were back in 2006. Back then, they had an incredible defense, a strong running game, solid pass-catchers, and a dominating special teams unit led by Hester and Robbie Gould. The problem: they didn’t have a trustworthy quarterback, which doomed them the following year and eventually led them to trade for Jay Cutler.
Unfortunately, the Bears ran into a similar problem with Cutler under center: while better than Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton, he faltered in a very winnable NFC Championship game against Green Bay.
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This year’s team finally exorcised the demons of that season, and they did it because they have the right head coach-quarterback combination at the wheel in Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams.
After seeing the stuff Williams pulled off this year when the lights were brightest—seemingly every time he was tested in the clutch—how can you not be bullish on the guy? I mean, we’re STILL talking about what he did to push that Rams game to the playoffs, and they didn’t even win the game. The world would not be ready for what he would do in a Super Bowl.
And given what we saw mutually from the maniacal Johnson and the ice-blooded Williams, it’s hard not to believe Hester’s heroics won’t be the last Super Bowl memories we’ll see. In fact, how about next year? That would be fun.
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