In embarrassing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Devin Hester eclipsed Deion Sanders’ NFL record for touchdown returns by taking home his 20th in the Atlanta Falcons’ 56-14 crushing of the Bucs. Hester returned a punt 62 yards for a TD in the second quarter, putting Atlanta up 35-0 en route to its largest victory in franchise history. He also added a 25-yard touchdown reception to his record-breaking night. “I didn’t get here alone,” Hester wrote on Facebook. “I can’t even start to name everyone I have to thank. Just know that I remember and am very thankful to every single one of you. I’m humbled by all of the support and well wishes…..more importantly we have 13 games left to get to where we want to be as a team!! Thank You and God Bless.” Hester previously shared the record with Sanders, his mentor and former Falcon who was in attendance and saluted Hester on the video board. “I’m overcome with emotions right now,” Sanders said in an interview with Hester after the game for NFL Network, for which the Hall of Famer is an analyst. “Because I love you as a man, as a father, as a husband. I remember the beginning, man. I love you, dude. And I’m so proud of you, man. I’m so proud of you. You know that.” Hester said he had tried to keep the ball from the play to give to Sanders but that someone had retrieved it for the Pro Football Hall of Fame and that it was already on a plane to Canton, Ohio. “You’ve always been there for me, man,” Hester said after recalling a story from his college days at Miami when he had gotten a phone call of congratulations from Sanders. “And I really look up to you. I really do, man.” Hester now has 14 punt returns for scores to go with five kickoff returns for scores and a return of a missed field goal for a touchdown. “It’s a lot of pressure; every game, getting ready to get dressed and play and hear your family and friends and your Instagram and stuff with guys telling you that you will break the record this weekend,” Hester said after the game. “That is a lot of pressure.” Not anymore.
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