Ravens waive ex-Cane Hester

Suncoast alum’s failures in loss to Pats are last straw.

The Ravens have finally run out of patience with veteran return man Devin Hester, cutting the former Suncoast High and Miami star and possibly bringing his career to an end.

Hester was waived Tuesday, a day after his failure to fifield two punts resulted in the Ravens starting drives on their 1- and 2-yard line in a 30-23 loss to the New England Patriots. His first mistake set up a Patriots safety early in the game.

Needing a return man, the Ravens signed Hester to a one- year deal just before the start of the regular season. At the time, the move made sense, given Hester is a four-time Pro Bowl selection who holds the NFL record for return touchdowns with 20 and punt return scores with 14.

However, Hester, 34, failed to make a positive impact, and didn’t come close to fifinding the form that made him one of the best return men in NFL history and a potential Hall of Famer.

He struggled with a groin injury, and in recent weeks, it appeared he had lost confifidence fifielding punts in traffific. Hester regularly allowed punts to bounce rather than catching them, costing the Ravens fifield position on a weekly basis.

H e w a s s o l i d o n k i c k returns, averaging 24.5 yards, which ranks sixth in the NFL. However, he was averaging only 7.2 yards per punt return, and he had fumbled fifive times, losing only one of them. The Ravens rank 26th in the league in punt return average.

Hester was born in Riviera Beach and starred in football and track at Suncoast. As a senior he was regarded as the country’s best twoway player and was named to numerous All-America teams, including fifirst-team USA Today. He was rated the No. 1 prospect in Florida by SuperPrep. He rushed for 842 yards and 12 touchdowns while compiling 922 receiving yards and six touchdowns. He also threw fifive TD passes. Defensively, he had three sacks and caused three fumbles.

He went on to UM, where he played offffffffffffense, defense and spec ial te ams — and was selected by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. Hester returned the opening kick at Super Bowl XLI for a touchdown against the Colts.