Basketball star Tamara James had plenty of reason to needle Devin Hester, her football-playing boyfriend during their years at the University of Miami. The Washington Mystics, after all, picked her in the first round of the WNBA draft last April 5. Three weeks later, Hester, one of the most electrifying players in Miami history, dropped into the second round of the NFL draft before the Chicago Bears selected him.
James might have been entitled to proclaim herself the most highly regarded rookie in their relationship, but she couldn't bear to do it. She recalled too vividly one of several cellphone calls during the NFL draft she received from Hester, his anxiety over when he would be selected turning into tears and humiliation when the Tennessee Titans failed to pick him minutes after saying they would.
He was beginning to think he had made the mistake of his life, opting out of his senior season at Miami.
"That was his lowest moment," she said. "It was hard to see him that upset."
About an hour later, the Bears, who face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in Super Bowl XLI, selected him 57th overall. At that point, James said, Hester didn't care who it was, only that somebody wanted him. He could never have imagined that a career that began with such hesitation, such uncertainty, would move straight ahead so fast.
No player in NFL history has scored on returns as often this season as Hester, who broke a 35-year-old NFL record by scoring six touchdowns on two kickoffs, three punts and one missed field goal. He tied another NFL record with the distance on the missed field goal, a 108-yarder Nov. 12 against the New York Giants, and the season's highlights landed him in the Pro Bowl.
And after all that, Hester got this bonus: a trip to the city in which he played his college football, just an hour south of the town in which he grew up. He is considered one of the biggest threats to score in football's biggest game.
"I wasn't really expecting to do the things that happened this year," Hester said hours after his team arrived at Miami International Airport on Sunday. "It was very hard coming out. It was a big decision I made. . . . We had a lot of people doubting me and saying I wasn't ready for the next level."
While establishing himself as a brilliant return specialist from the start in college -- he scored in his first game as a freshman -- he failed to convince the Hurricanes' coaching staff that he could play consistently anywhere else. He lined up all over the place, at cornerback, running back, fullback and wide receiver, but started just five games through his junior season.
Hester was ready, though, to claim his dream. His mother's house in Riviera Beach, Fla., had been ravaged by Hurricane Frances in 2004 and remained in disrepair. A woman of deep faith, Hester's mother, Juanita Brown, urged him to take the risk.
There was risk for Chicago, too. As the draft proceeded through the second round, Bears Coach Lovie Smith dismissed concerns about where, exactly, Hester would fit in. Instead, he recalled the extensive tape of Hester highlights he watched after working him out in Miami before the draft.
"I saw on that highlight tape exactly what I've seen the rest of the year," Smith said. "He's just a special player when he gets his hands on the football."
Hester said he knew had something special when he beat all the fastest kids in fifth grade -- when he was in fourth grade. Teammates say Hester seems to process what's happening on the field faster than everyone else. And his pure speed -- he has run a 4.2 second 40-yard dash -- doesn't hurt.
"Devin shows phenomenal vision," Bears cornerback Charles Tillman said. "He sees things before they happen."
After the draft, Hester wanted James, to whom he had proposed at halftime of a Miami Heat game, to accompany him to Chicago. But while Hester's dream was coming true, hers was, too. She chose to compete last summer with the Mystics, getting an apartment in Washington, then signed professional contracts to play in Spain and Israel in the fall and winter. The strain of being apart led to a broken engagement, she said, but left their strong friendship intact.
"We've been there for each other," Hester said. "We lift each other, keep each other's heads on right."
James, who talked about Hester from a cellphone while riding in a borrowed car to the Dead Sea for a sightseeing excursion, planned to catch a flight to Miami on Tuesday. She said they had been talking about three times per week, even during her stint overseas.
Hester, she said, has never been happier. But it took awhile for him to get accustomed to the hard life in the NFL. Though he returned a punt for a touchdown in his first game as a professional, he didn't get to the end zone again until Week 6. That drought frustrated him.
"He's used to scoring in every game," James said. "I had to let him know, this is the NFL. This isn't the NCAA. He had the mentality that he was going to score all the time. I let him know his time was coming. He just had to settle down and relax.
"After that, he started running all over the place."
