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Published Jun 14, 2022
Another Hester shows off on Greentree: Devin's son competed Sunday
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Matt Shodell  •  CanesCounty
Managing Editor
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Most Miami Hurricane fans would point to 2005 as the last time there was a guy named Hester showing off his blazing speed on Greentree Practice Field.

But that needs to be updated to … Sunday.

That’s when Cane great Devin Hester took his 9-year-old son Drayton to the Mario Cristobal Ultimate Youth Camp.

Drayton doesn’t have much to live up to, just the legacy of being one of college football and the NFL’s greatest-ever returners who was a four-time Pro Bowler and chosen to the NFL All-Decade Team in the 2000s and again in the 2010s as well as the NFL All-Time Team.

No pressure, Drayton.

Devin was already in the Miami area on vacation when he found out about the camp from former teammate Luqman Abdullah. He asked Drayton if he wanted to participate in the camp and the answer was, as you’d expect from a competitive Hester, an immediate yes.

So there they were on Sunday at Greentree, Devin getting asked by youth parents for photos and mingling with Cane coaches, while Drayton was showing off a pretty nice burst for a 9-year-old.

Is Drayton as fast as you, Devin?

“He’s getting there,” Devin says with a laugh, adding “When I was 9 compared to him – we are pretty similar. His IQ of the game is a little higher because of the technology they have … and he has me coaching him up 24/7. Other than that we’re similar.”

Cane coaches, take notice. Maybe in a few years Drayton will be a major Cane recruiting target. If that happens, Devin would be thrilled. He’d love to see another “Hester” on the back of a Cane jersey.

But at the same time he knows his job as a dad.

“I’m the type of father I want the kid to make the decision, don’t be that parent that makes the decision for the kid because at the end of the day that kid has to live that situation,” said Hester, who is retired and involved in commercial real estate investing. “Of course I’ll help make sure the decision is in his best interest. But I want him to live with the decision he makes.”

Devin also is coach of Drayton's West Orlando Jaguars 9-U team based in Orlando. Drayton, who of course wears jersey No. 4, starts at quarterback and safety and also plays running back and handles kickoff returns and punt returns.

Remind you of anyone?

For those that may have forgotten, Hester played cornerback, running back and handled returns at Miami.

“Last year we played in a league called Florida League with the area of Naples all the way to Gainesville,” Devin said. “It’s 36 teams, and for our age division we won the championship.”

During Sunday’s work, Devin spent some time chatting with Cane coaches.

“I talked to all of them, they were saying it’s so cool to have players come back and be part of the organization,” said Hester, who also attended a spring practice session in April. “That felt good. I talked to (Alonzo) Highsmith, he said `Listen, man, we’re just trying to bring the team back to where everyone knows us as being that former Miami Hurricanes team we built a long time ago.

"I got a quick one-on-one time with (Mario) Cristobal and talked with Josh Gattis – we were with the Chicago Bears at the same time. Him being a coach now – you wouldn’t know it then, we were just all so young. Me and Josh were talking about the situation with coaching and how it all boils down to the decision he made to come here, how happy he is, how he’s always been in the cold and he finally gets to get out in the heat.”

What does Hester see ahead for the Cane program?

“I think right now they are going in the right direction,” Hester said. “Everything they have done since previous years, it’s only getting better - from the coaching staff to facilities to hiring of the new AD and things like that. It’s going in the right direction. Now it’s really about getting the players we need to get and fit our system.”

While his son’s college days might be a long way off, Devin loves how Drayton will watch his highlights from the Hurricanes and with the Chicago Bears.

The tables were turned a bit on Sunday, with Devin watching his son create some new Greentree highlights.

“He’s a football junkie,” Devin said. “Seeing Dray on Greentree, that was pretty cool. He got to go out and there and have fun. He did pretty well. They did a lot of drills, a lot of ladder drills, cone drills, catching the ball. He did really well.”

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