Devin Hester Ends Shortest Holdout in NFL History, Reports to Bears Training Camp

Let me take you back 24 hours, when Devin Hester, return dude extraordinaire, declared that he wasn't playing for $445,000 this season. He's worth way more than that, and until the Bears gave him a new deal, he wasn't showing up for work.

It's a popular strategy for disgruntled players looking for more money, and one that seldom works (Devin, Lance. Lance, Devin). Not so much because contract talks might stall, but because it cost Hester $30,000 in fines to hold out for two days, which, when you don't want to live on less than half a million, sorta hurts. And that probably has something to do with this:

There was a change of heart between then and now, and this puts Hester in position to compete for a starting job as a receiver. He was slated to work with the first team on Wednesday and will not be far behind now.

Teammates and coaches were understanding of his position as he's scheduled to earn $445,000 this season. General manager Jerry Angelo spoke with Hester's agent Eugene Parker on Thursday and expressed that he didn't want Hester to feel slighted that the club got a slew of contracts done and not his, that it remained a top priority for the club.

The Chicago Sun-Times' Brad Briggs thinks Angelo's words might've helped push Hester into returning (I'm guessing it was the thought of losing another $15K for playing Xbox while his teammates practiced). Whatever, that's all in the past; Hester will now go about the task of winning one of the wide receiver jobs, which, if Brandon Lloyd is who we thinks he is, should take about 20 minutes into this afternoon's practice.

Then all that will be left to do is for the Bears and Hester to come to terms on a new deal that pays him something more than $445,000.