Flash of Neon

Electrifying hester taking a few pages out of Sanders' book

The worst Devin Hester moment Monday night came midway through the third quarter, when he stood on the 40-yard line waiting, then moved back to the 39, then the 38. The anticipation was killing me. And then the punt went up. Hester moved forward, looked to the sky and ... raised his hand and caught the ball.

Fair catch? What a letdown.

How can you not be in love with the speed burst, the open-field decisions, even the look back from the 30-yard line at the opposing roadkill trying to keep up, then the high-step into the end zone and the dance?

''The one thing I was critical of ... I don't condone the looking back and the taunting with the hand-gesturing, like, 'Come on, get me.' I got on him about that. I don't mind the dancing; you work your butt off to score. But I don't condone spiking the ball in someone's face or taunting.

''He won't do it again, I promise you.''

It takes a special kind of prudish buzz kill to say something like that. It took...

Deion Sanders?

''I know that sounds a little funny coming from me,'' Sanders said. ''But I never taunted, spiked the ball in people's face or tried to belittle them. I danced. When you play pickup football in the parking lot, you dance.''

Prime Time?

This was the curious moment from Hester, after he had run back two kickoffs for touchdowns, one for 94 yards and one for 96. As a rookie, he already has a single-season NFL record with six touchdown returns, counting kickoffs, punts and missed field goals. And he said he did that high-step and dance as a ''shout-out'' to Sanders, his ''mentor.''

Is this how you think of Sanders? As a mentor? Can you imagine Hester being the next Sanders in every possible way, including the clothes and mouth?

But Sanders and Hester do have a special relationship. He ran back a kick for a touchdown in college, and the TV announcers said his hero was Sanders, who happened to be watching the game. So Sanders sought out Hester, then called him. And from there, the relationship grew into something right out of Tuesdays with Morrie.

Only instead of an aging and ailing college professor, Hester's Morrie was Neon Deion.

''Watching him [Monday] night was sort of like, you really can believe, but you can't actually fathom the idea that this guy is doing what he knew he could do,'' Sanders said Tuesday, a few minutes after talking to Hester on the phone. ''Receiving the opportunity he received, the right city, the right team -- rarely does that happen.

''I look at Devin like a little brother I never had. I really love him.''

Sanders once intercepted a pass and, according to the New York Times account, ''raced down the sideline, looking over his shoulder and taunting the opposition bench and cakewalking into the end zone, where he embarked on a little soft-shoe and in the process pulled a groin muscle.''

And he is the mentor to Hester? At the University of Miami, they used to call Hester ''Anytime'' because of his relationship with Prime Time.

So is this the kind of thing we have to look forward to with Hester?

''The thing about Devin you have to understand is he's very shy,'' said Sanders, now an analyst for the NFL Network. ''He plays loud on the field, but he's very shy away from it, very reclusive.''

Talking with Sanders, you hear someone thoughtful, caring for others, and you keep wondering, ''Is this really Sanders on the phone?'' But you recognize the voice.

Sanders was a Pro Bowl cornerback and returner. Hester made some mistakes in the defensive backfield Monday. But does Sanders think Hester might be a better returner than he was?

''I think so,'' he said. ''I never accomplished the feats he's accomplished. Never. This guy has broken records, man.''

Hester went to Sanders for advice when he was considering leaving college early for the NFL, a decision made tougher by a promise he had made to his father, who later died of cancer, to get his degree. But the Hester family house in Florida had been damaged by a hurricane, and the family needed money.

When Hester decided to turn pro, Sanders worked with him in Dallas to help him prepare for the draft. Hester eventually ran 40 yards in as fast as 4.27 seconds for scouts.

''His footwork is unbelievable,'' Sanders said.

Sanders also talked with Hester about ''life skills, football skills, how to study film, how to conduct himself in public, how to say no, dealing with family issues, stardom. ... Honestly, man, in football you've got to stay focused.

''Even when he fumbled a punt, that's over. It's in the past. You can't be timid on the next return.''

Tuesdays with Deion are different than I would have expected.

''I'm living vicariously through him,'' Sanders said. ''I could really feel this kid. He's in his zone right now. When he hits it, you can hang it up. Nobody is going to catch him. You haven't seen a tenth of what he's going to bring to the NFL.''

But what about the dance? As good as yours?

''I've got to work with him on that,'' Neon Deion said.

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