{"id":122375,"date":"2025-08-31T06:19:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T06:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/122375\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T06:19:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T06:19:06","slug":"devin-hester-jr-s-long-kickoff-return-almost-made-everyone-feel-really-old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/122375\/","title":{"rendered":"Devin Hester Jr.&#8217;s Long Kickoff Return Almost Made Everyone Feel Really Old"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_tktab3825\">As highlights from across the college football world began to roll in on Saturday afternoon, one particular name caught the attention of many aging football fans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_048f7lxan\">Devin Hester Jr. had returned a kick for Furman University against William &amp; Mary, and nearly took it to the house.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Devin Hester jr. with a 75 yard kickoff return\u203c\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TeVhj4n4RT\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/TeVhj4n4RT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Furman Football (@PaladinFootball) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PaladinFootball\/status\/1961867323167396141?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">August 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_hgbo1j97f\">If you saw \u201cDevin Hester Jr. is returning kicks\u201d and jumped to assume that it was the son of NFL return specialist Devin Hester, you would be forgiven. You would also be mistaken.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_13o26qdz8\">As it turns out, this Devin Hester Jr. is a different Devin Hester Jr.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_xzun1nr0y\">This is not exactly an easy thing to figure out, because the NFL Devin Hester that you are likely more familiar with also has a son named Devin Hester Jr. But that Devin Hester Jr. is <a class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_aoxits\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DNQTpBgtxHG-LwvZW9Ck8s_uDpzZELeAaM8nec0\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">still in high school<\/a>, and appears to be more focused as a track athlete. He is <a class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_aoxits\" href=\"https:\/\/fl.milesplit.com\/athletes\/14153087-devin-hester-jr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">listed as in the Class of 2028<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_7689tdlmv\">Meanwhile, Furman\u2019s Devin Hester Jr. is a college sophomore, and was born in Chattanooga, Tenn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_5vszsahrm\">Google\u2019s AI search results added to the confusion by deciding that sure, these two Devin Hesters were probably related.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw-o_O-style_e296pg\" alt=\"A google AI search result incorrectly identifies Furman\u2019s Devin Hester Jr. as the son of NFL great Devin Hester.\" title=\"A google AI search result incorrectly identifies Furman\u2019s Devin Hester Jr. as the son of NFL great Devin Hester.\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Wrong again AI! \/ Screengrab \/ Tyler Lauletta<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_cs1dj93tx\">Again, <a class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_aoxits\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/cjzero\/status\/1961905559449264525\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Furman\u2019s Devin Hester is not related to NFL Hall of Famer Devin Hester<\/a>, but fans who made the jump were quick to raise concerns about how quickly they are aging.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cDevin Hester Jr.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CMg5ObRQih\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/CMg5ObRQih<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/C6AxsVtgwN\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/C6AxsVtgwN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SleeperBears (@SleeperBears) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SleeperBears\/status\/1961887357977702533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">August 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Devin Hester Jr. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Wf4qPWPPZl\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/t.co\/Wf4qPWPPZl<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/M54HQmIPrm\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/M54HQmIPrm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Daily Norseman (@DailyNorseman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DailyNorseman\/status\/1961884751503015979?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">August 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Devin Hester Jr. just took a kick to the house? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aAEKSUVlIV\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/aAEKSUVlIV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nutzy (@Nutzypoo_ttv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Nutzypoo_ttv\/status\/1961873228944785691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">August 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_g534iga2a\">If you or an aging millennial you know saw Devin Hester Jr. returning kicks in a football game and became worried about the unstopping passage of time, rest easy, you have a few more years to relax.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_1mfvp8o-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_m6ek7qta2\">And to Furman\u2019s Devin Hester Jr., cheers on making some big plays on Saturday. Let\u2019s hope he can make it to the NFL so we can play this game all over again in a few years.<\/p>\n<p>More College Football on Sports Illustrated<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As highlights from across the college football world began to roll in on Saturday afternoon, one particular name&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-122375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}