When 'Duty' calls, it's game on for Devin Hester

The Bears’ Devin Hester estimates he plays video games just about every day. He said it’s due in part to the free time he has and the fact that he feels he can’t go out in public much. His wife doesn’t mind — after all, it means he’s home — except when they have family over.

That’s when she pulls out her secret weapon.

“She’ll send my son down to the basement,” said Hester, who was promoting the first-person shooter “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” in stores Tuesday, over the phone last week. “She knows he won’t let me play games in peace. He’ll grab the controller and start pushing buttons and mess up the game. That does make me come (upstairs).”

Still, Hester insisted he isn’t the biggest gamer on the Bears. That award goes to tight end Kellen Davis. “He stays up all night playing even if we’ve got practice the next day,” Hester said. Both players have been known to team up together on previous “Call of Duty” games, along with teammates Matt Forte, Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett and Henry Melton, among others.

Sometimes they have players from opposing NFL squads join them, including the Denver Broncos’ Eddie Royal and the Minnesota Vikings’ Joe Webb.

“Two of us will be online and we’ll call this person who will call another person,” Hester said. “There could be as many as 12 of us on the same team. It’s a fun group activity. … Every now and then I might get one kid who asks (if we’re Bears players). They’ll see our screen names and put it together.”

Does Hester talk trash when he’s playing? “When I do good, yeah,” said Hester. And when he’s not doing so hot? “I’m quiet,” he said. “I hate getting shot.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Hester nearly found himself on the cover of another popular video game. He said his agent received a call saying he was under consideration for the cover of “Madden NFL 08.” Many players who appear on the cover of “Madden” have gone on to struggle during the season (that’s how the “Madden curse” started), but Hester said he would gladly become the game’s cover man if given the opportunity. “I think it’s a great honor to be on the cover,” said Hester, adding that he doesn’t believe in the curse. “I don’t think you should turn that down.”

Click here to order Devin Hester’s proCane Rookie Card.


(chicagotribune.com)