Jessie Lee Hester (born January 21, 1963) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver who played 11 years in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

, the Atlanta Falcons, the Indianapolis Colts, and the Los Angeles / St. Louis Rams from 1985 to 1995. He played college football at Florida State University. He finished his college career with 107 catches for 2,100 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was a taken with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 1985 NFL Draft. In his career, Hester played in 147 games and caught 373 receptions for 5,850 yards and 29 touchdowns. After retiring from the NFL, Jessie returned home to Belle Glade, Florida to become the head football coach at his alma mater,

Glades Central High School Glades Central Community High School is a high school located in Belle Glade, Florida. In the 2014–15 school year its enrollment numbered 992 students. It is known for having one of the best high school football teams in the nation, with more foo ...

. He also owns a home in

Wellington, Florida Wellington is a village just west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and north of Miami. As of 2019, the city had a population of 65,398 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, making it the most populous village in the state. It is th ...

. On December 17, 2010, Hester was fired from his position of Head Coach at

after guiding the team to a record of 36-4 over three seasons. Hester had led the Raiders to the playoffs for three consecutive years and appearances in two consecutive state championship games, which they lost. In 2011, he went 3-7 as head football coach at Suncoast High School. Author Bryan Mealer's book
Muck City
focuses on Hester's life in Belle Glade and the 2010 Glades Central Raiders team he coached. The book was released in October 2012. In the spring of 2012, Hester became

Athletic Director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches an ...

for

Lake Worth Community High School Lake Worth Community High School is a public high school located in Lake Worth Beach, Florida. Established in 1922 as Lake Worth High School, it is currently one of Palm Beach County's largest schools. The Palm Beach County School Board added ...

. In December 2012, Hester was named football coach.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hester, Jessie 1963 births Living people Players of American football from Belle Glade, Florida American football wide receivers Florida State Seminoles football players Los Angeles Raiders players Atlanta Falcons players Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Rams players St. Louis Rams players People from Wellington, Florida 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople