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Bears Thu Dec 17 2009

Hester Runs A Reverse

hester.jpgAh, you gotta love athletes. Even in this era of videotape, digital recordings and the internet, they still cling to the hope that when they say something stupid or controversial, the public will buy it when they claim they were "misquoted" or "taken out of context".

Devin Hester finds himself the latest Chicago Bear to try to stuff the words back into his mouth after telling a gaggle of reporters that he expects some changes on the team's roster after their dismal season. To wit:

"It's been what, three seasons like this? It's tough. There will be a lot of changes, I know that for a fact, and I hope it's for the better. ... Everybody sees it. There are going to be a lot of new players in probably, and some other things change around here.''


OK. Nothing wrong with that statement. Every team makes changes in the offseason, be they minor or major and the Bears are no exception. Sure, maybe Hester doesn't know it for "a fact", but anyone who's seen the Bears play this season is 97.5 percent sure they won't go into next season with the same roster on or off the field. But for some reason, when those words hit the harsh light of day, Hester had second thoughts about his frankness. So much so that he felt the need to Tweet his non-retraction retraction.

"I feel like the media blew my interview out of proportion and that everything I said was reworded or taken the wrong way,'' he said. "When I am asked, 'Will there be changes?' my answer is 'yes.' What I mean is; there will always be new guys (rookies, trades or coaches). . . . After reading current articles I feel like the press tried to make me seem like I had inside information on the future of coaches or players."


Note to Hester: When you include a phrase like, "I know that for a fact", then, yeah, it's going to seem like you are privvy to information that the regular press doesn't have. Unless you were seriously misquoted ("I know that for a fact that cheetahs can reach speeds of up to 70 mph."), key words were omitted ("I DON'T know that for a fact.") or the sentence was completely made up, the MEDIA didn't make it seem like you had the skinny, you did.

For a moment there, I thought we had that rarest of creatures, the refreshingly honest athlete. But like his kick returning of late, Hester is becoming timid when he should be plowing straight ahead.

 
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