The NFL’s all-decade team for the 2010’s was announced on Monday. That list featured two current Bears in OLB Khalil Mack and KR Cordarrelle Patterson and two former Bears DE Julius Peppers and KR Devin Hester.
Hester and Peppers are two of only four players to be named to both the 2010’s all-decade team and the 2000’s all-decade team, as Hester pointed out on twitter.
Hester, who is arguably the best return-man to ever play, played eight years of his 11-year career for the Bears from 2006-2013. During those eight seasons in Chicago, he returned 13 punts, 5 kick-offs and one missed field goal for touchdowns: he would return one more punt for a touchdown as a member of the Atlanta Falcons. Probably the most notable return of Hester’s career was when he returned the opening kickoff of Super Bowl XLI for a touchdown.
Julius Peppers came to the Bears in 2010 as a free agent and would spend four seasons in Chicago from 2010-2013. During those four seasons Peppers helped Advil make a fortune off opposing offensive coordinators. Peppers totaled 175 tackles, 47 TFL, 37.5 sacks, 52 QB hits, 10 fumbles forced and three interceptions as a Chicago Bear. His time in Chicago is a small sample size of a 17-year career that will undoubtably end in Canton.
Patterson just wrapped up his first season in Chicago. During the 2019 season, Patterson was a special teams contributor with kick return duties as well as punt coverage responsibilities as a gunner. Since entering the league in 2013 Patterson has returned seven kickoffs for touchdowns, including one with the Bears last season. On top of his touchdown return, Patterson averaged 29.5 yards per return last season and delivered an absolutely nasty hit on this perfectly timed punt coverage play.
Labor Day 2018 was a day of celebration in Chicago, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the holiday. This was the day news broke that the Bears were receiving Khalil Mack from the Oakland Raiders. Chicago received a recent Defensive Player of the Year as well as the first player to be named to the all-pro team at two separate positions in the same year. Mack’s impact was immediately felt during his Bears debut, he became the first player to record a sack, forced fumble, a fumble recovery, an interception and a touchdown in the same game since 2016 when it was also Khalil Mack who did so. Mack’s career began in 2014 and his impact on the decade has been felt, he has recorded 61.5 sacks, 20 forced fumbles, 116 QB hits, 86 tackles for loss, two interceptions and two touchdowns to this point in his career.
View the entire all-decade team HERE.