Hines Ward
Hines Ward
Hines Edward Ward, Jr.is a retired American football wide receiver, businessman, and television personality. He is the current NBC studio analyst who played 14 seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Georgia. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft, and he became the team's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown receptions. Ward was voted MVP of Super Bowl XL, and...
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth8 March 1976
CitySeoul, South Korea
When I signed the deal, I wasn't a Pro Bowl player, ... To go to four straight Pro Bowls, you deserve some type of raise. They said, 'Come into camp and we'll continue negotiations,' and that's why I'm here.
We've put ourselves behind the 8-ball as far as the playoffs go. I think we've got to win all four of our games left.
We didn't want to go through this by choice. That is how it went. Last year, we were a No. 1 seed. This year, we had to win our final four games just to get here. So we've been on a playoff mentality the last four weeks of the regular season. It's win or go home, so we've gotten used to playing with pressure.
If that's how you judge me as a football player, then you need to go continue judging me. Me not hitting 1,000 yards doesn't make me any less of a receiver. It would have been an accomplishment to go over 1,000, but we didn't even pass the ball but once or twice in the fourth quarter.
He is a big pickup in my opinion. With the addition of Quincy, and we put him out there in our four wides, we are going to have four great receivers on the field and it is going to give us a lot of versatility. There is no question he is a great addition to the team. I am excited.
You are based on what you do in the Super Bowl. Those guys had the opportunity to win four Super Bowls, and getting this opportunity is a dream come true for me.
We're not going to hit the panic button. We had a great training camp and we looked good in practice. We were hitting on all four cylinders. We just haven't been able to transfer that into games.
They're fast, from the front four to the secondary, and we've got to counter that. Their linebackers are really strong safeties, they rally around the ball real fast.
When you get large, lucrative contracts, the expectations are a little greater. The statistics aren't what I'm accustomed to, but what I brought each Sunday was going out and giving it all I've got.
The play-calling was aggressive. They thought all we can do is run the ball. We can pass the ball, too.
We knew it was going to go for a touchdown. The great ones don't drop balls in the Super Bowl, and I want to be considered one of the great ones.
We knew it was going to go for a touchdown.
We're not just a one-dimensional team. We can throw the ball down the field. Now we're one game from the Super Bowl, and we're taking the mentality that it's us against the world.
This year, there was no expectation. We were the sixth seed. Nobody expected much out of us.