“And it’s Devin Hester’s night to high-step!”
— Jim Nantz, 2014
[The following is a viral college admissions essay. The writer is unknown. Prompt: “What moment inspired you most and why?”]
In 2014, Devin Hester changed my life with a punt return. A 62-yard touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which made Hester the all-time leader in non-offensive touchdowns. I was just finishing middle school and Hester was already my all-time favorite football player. He scored and I jumped up and raised my fist in the air and shouted “Fuck Yeah!”, much to the joy of my dad and the horror of my mom. And now, five years later, I understand what it means.
Enough about me, back to Hester, or “Anytime”, which is the perfect nickname for Hester and speaks to something fundamental about sports and life as a whole. You can score at any time. You can fumble at any time. You can lose Grandpa to lung cancer at any time. You can decide to get your shit together and be the first person in your family to go to college at any time. Anytime is the only time that matters, the only time that’s real.
The record-breaking punt return wasn’t his most iconic moment, that was his opening kickoff return touchdown in Super Bowl XLI. It wasn’t his most impressive either, that was his 108-yard return touchdown on a missed field goal vs the Giants. It wasn’t even his most game-changing play, that was his 83-yard return touchdown vs the Cardinals, the “They are who we thought they were!” game.
It was, however, his most Hester play. A return specialist in his thirties, making two cuts that faked out everyone, moving so fast that the punter couldn’t lay a finger on him despite having the angle. That’s Hester, that’s Anytime.
Later that day, I demanded that my dad buy me a Hester Falcons jersey, and he did, despite us being Saints fans. Hester even signed it for me when we played them at the Georgia Dome the next year. I was wearing my Brees jersey and he still signed it, responding to some jeering Falcons fans by saying, and I quote: “Anyone gives this kid shit, ban them for life.” Now that’s fucking inspirational.
It was the moment of moments for me because it proves that Hester is just a man, which means he’s all of us. The kid who practices returns in the backyard. The frat bro returning punts with 100 Speed Hester in Madden, resulting in hundreds of broken controllers. The fan on the couch screaming their lungs off at something they’ll never fully understand. “He could do it and so can I, anyhow, anywhere, anytime.”
The essay is over now. I’ve said all the things that are right to me so I don’t really care what you think. Let me in, or don’t. Regardless, the future will come my way, at any time, the only time.
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