Devin Hester had a hard time staying healthy over his two seasons with the Falcons but general manager Thomas Dimitroff said that wasn’t the main reason the team released the kick returner on Tuesday.
“He passed his (pre-camp) physical,” Dimitroff said. “It was a football decision for us in the end. Not to be evasive about it, but we wish him a lot of luck and we think it’s best for the organization for us to move forward.”
Hester, 33, owns the NFL records for total return touchdowns (20) and punt return TDs (14). But he missed 11 games last season because of an injury to his right big toe and spent the off season recovering from surgery.
The Falcons placed Hester on injured reserve/designated to return at the beginning of last season. He played the final five games and returned nine kickoffs for 235 yards with a long of 35 and eight punts for 34 yards with a long of 11.
The Falcons signed Hester before the 2014 season and he went on to return 45 kicks for an average of 27.6 yards with a long of 66 and 18 punts for an average of 13.3 yards with one touchdown and a long return of 68. Hester broke Deion Sanders’ career return TD record with a 62-yard punt return on Sept. 18, 2014, against the Buccaneers.
Hester also caught 38 passes for 504 yards and two touchdowns in 2014. But he didn’t have a catch in 2015 as he played just one offensive snap.
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