“I just tell God to watch over me from the toes on my feet to the head of my crown,” Hester said to the Chicago Tribune.
His mother, Juanita Brown, Pastor of Anointed House of Prayer Ministries in West Palm Beach, FL, introduced the NFL star to the Christian faith.
“My mom taught me, No. 1, to have respect for God,” Hester said to the Chicago Tribune, “and to know that you can do all things through Christ.”
His mother’s training was later embraced by Hester when he had children of his own. He understood the role of being a father and spending quality time with his kids.
“I don’t know how much to stress how important it is to be in your kid’s life. Time is the most important thing you can give a kid,” Hester said in 2011 to the Daily Herald. “I just get a kick out of coming home and seeing how excited my kid is to see me walk in the door.”
Now a married man with two kids, Hester wants his oldest son to remember him for more than his NFL record 20 returns.
“I want D.J. to tell his friends in middle school and elementary and high school that I have the best dad ever. Not the superstar on the football field, but off the field I have the best dad in the whole wide world,” he said to the Daily Herald.
