The Green Bay Packers are the only team in history to have had a special teams player be awarded the title of Super Bowl MVP. Almost thirty years ago, in Super Bowl XXXI, Desmond Howard was given the award after earning 244 all-purpose yards. That includes 90 punt return yards, 154 kickoff return yards, and a touchdown. There is very little doubt about the spark Desmond Howard created for the already dangerous 1996 Packers team. He demonstrated that every role can be crucial, no matter how minimal it may seem.
The fact is, kick returners are often on the roster bubble every single preseason. Unless they provide some clear value on offense or defense, a return specialist is often fighting for his life every summer. And that's exactly how Desmond Howard's Packers career began. Howard was a preseason pickup who barely saw the field. It wasn't until the second preseason game against the Steelers at Lambeau Field that Howard took a punt return 77 yards for a touchdown that the Packers cemented him as their return man and didn't look back.
As a former Heisman Trophy winner and the number four overall pick in the 1992 draft, Howard would be considered by many standards to have been a draft bust. He wasn't the dynamic play-making wide receiver the Redskins or the Jaguars had thought he'd be in his stints with each team before the Packers, but he showed the potential to be a weapon in the return game, so the Packers pulled the trigger in bringing him to Green Bay. Sometimes, a chance is all a player like Howard needs.
Last season, the Packers were dismal at best in the return game. Punt and kick returns seemed to be a revolving door of returners, with the Packers ranking dead last in punt return average and tying for 22nd in kick return average. It got to the point where all you could hope for with a Packers returner was that they wouldn't fumble it; everything after that was a bonus. The Packers tried to prevent this issue from happening before the season even got underway by signing wide receiver/return specialist Mecole Hardman, but Hardman failed to show any kind of spark at all before being released from the Packers' practice squad in late September.
Look to the Skyy
In an attempt to get ahead of the issue this season, the Packers were quick to sign wide receiver/return specialist Skyy Moore in free agency. Moore has had an NFL career similar to the start of Desmond Howard's so far. Though Moore was selected late in the second round, and not very early in the first, like Howard, Moore was expected to be a dynamic playmaker for the Chiefs. Alongside injuries, things didn't pan out, though, and along with a 2027 seventh-round pick, Moore was traded to the 49ers for a 2027 sixth-round pick.
To be valued so little that you're only worth a late-round pick-swap in a draft two years in the future gave Moore a reason to show he deserved better. In 2025, Skyy Moore found some success as a return specialist in San Francisco, earning 1198 yards between punt and kick returns, averaging 27.5 yards on kicks and 11.6 yards on punts.
With Packers players not even coming close to these totals last season, Moore basically becomes the de facto KR/PR1. And the Packers need him to hold on to that title. He played a major role in turning around a dismal 49ers special teams in 2025, and now he has a shot at doing the same with the Packers.
While many teams may not want to use a roster spot on a "return specialist," they don't want to add unnecessary wear and injury risk to their offensive and defensive weapons. In 2026, the Packers will be looking to Jayden Reed, Matthew Golden, and Keisean Nixon to play big roles on offense and defense; they won't want them adding extra snaps on special teams. So, a return specialist is a "must." Even if the specialist doubles as WR6.
Players like Skyy Moore and Desmond Howard don't get the credit they often deserve. In fact, there are still many who argue that Brett Favre should've received the Super Bowl XXXI MVP instead. But sometimes, it's that overlooked player who's fighting for a roster spot who can be the difference between another season with a playoff loss or hoisting the Lombardi trophy. Moore took advantage of his chance in San Francisco; now it's his chance to take things even further and make his career unforgettable.