LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Almost as soon as he left the field, Devin Hester’s phone started ringing.

Relatives congratulated him. So did old friends, some of whom he “had crushes on in high school.”

And on Tuesday, his mentor Deion Sanders called.

“He told me, ‘You just shocked the world,'” Hester said. “Keep up the good work.”

Hester tied a record with his 108-yard return of a missed field goal, and Chicago beat the New York Giants 38-20. Now, the Bears (8-1) try to become the first visiting team since Washington in 1999 to win at the Meadowlands in consecutive weeks when they visit the Jets (5-4) on Sunday.

As rare as it is for a visiting team to visit the same stadium two weeks in a row, how often does a player return to the site of a record this quickly?

There was Hester standing 8 yards back in the end zone after catching Jay Feely’s short field-goal attempt, acting like he was about to down the ball. But as several Giants headed toward the sideline, he took off on a run that extended the Bears’ lead to 31-20 and put him in the record book alongside teammate Nathan Vasher for longest play from scrimmage.

The 108-yard return happened almost a year to the day that Vasher ran back a missed field goal by San Francisco’s Joe Nedney on a wind-swept afternoon at Soldier Field. Vasher, who made a neat spin move and reversed field after catching a missed field goal, covered more ground – not that it diminishes what Hester did.

“At the time, I didn’t really know what I was going to do,” Hester said Wednesday.

Implored by his college coaches to return for his senior season, Hester turned pro in part because Hurricane Wilma tore a hole in his mother’s living room and sent a tree crashing into two cars. The Bears drafted him in the second round, and their reward so far is a league-leading three touchdown returns.

He ran one punt back 84 yards in the season opener against Green Bay, and returned another 83 yards for a touchdown with less than three minutes left at Arizona as the Bears rallied for a 24-23 victory on Oct. 16. He also had a 42-yard return against San Francisco on Oct. 29, before a rough outing against Miami a week later, when he fumbled twice and lost one that led to a touchdown in a 31-13 loss.

He’s watched the replay of that record-tying return seven times, and his appreciation for his teammates has grown with each viewing. He realizes how critical were the blocks Alfonso Boone, Charles Tillman and Hunter Hillenmeyer threw.

“I give all the credit to my teammates,” Hester said.