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
Carolina played a lot of Cover 2. When teams play Cover 2, you have to be able to run the ball. We didn't do that. And, we have to stay away from negative (yardage) plays.
He's a threat, no question. If you put eight in the box, and we block all eight, you are going to give up a big play. How do you deal with Willie? His speed has to be accounted for. I don't know how teams will defend him in the playoffs. He can go the distance any time. If we block it for him, we're going to get the home-run ball.
We're just having fun, and that's what it is about. There are 20 teams out there who wish they were in the playoffs. For us, you have to enjoy it while you are here. And, as players, you have to make sure you enjoy that.
When teams play the Cover 2, you're supposed to be able to run against them, ... We couldn't.
Teams seem to put us in black jerseys whenever we go anywhere that's hot. We're accustomed to playing in that.
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.
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 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.
With all the road that we traveled to get here, it means nothing if we go out here and lay an egg in this game. If we don't go out and take care of business, then all that had work that we have done, nobody's ever going to remember it.
We gave ourselves a chance to win the ballgame,